His Tale of Souls and Swords
by Jesse Susik
Summary: A young man, and his brother, both destined to go down in history. They traveled to extents, and made some friends along the way. This is His tale of Souls and Swords. CURRENTLY IN RECONSTRUCTION. Rated M For language'n' possible situations
1. I Remember it Like Yesterday

**Okay, I'm going to be honest. Some of you are going to read maybe a few sentances off this chapter. This isn't my BEST writing. Trust me when i say this, after the first few chapters, My writing style gets very much better. Also i had a Co-Writer helping me out with the later chapters. This chapter has ALOT of mistakes and so do some of the others. I'm on it, trust me. You will find a few odd caps and mispellings.  
Please, just because this chapter isnt good, doesn't mean the whole story isn't either. I'm currently Re-Writing this chapter, okay? Anyways, check out the other chapters and leaave some reviews and maybe some helpful advice. Thanks.**

* * *

An old man slowly made his way back to his humble abode. The sun was high in the sky, and children laughed and played around on the heavily trodden upon trails. Inside this small village, a Monument to a heroic group of friends, that withstood losses, gained more friends, and soon accomplished an impossible goal, as a family. A young boy walked up beside this old man. He stood at least half of the size of the older fellow, with his unkempt brown hair, red died tunic, black slops, and a raggedy old headband tied atop his brow.

" Hey grandfather, do you think you could tell my friends and I one of your stories later today? You know, the good one?" He asked eagerly

The old man smiled warmly and looked at this young man

"Of course, its been along while since I've told that one. " He replied

"YAY!" exclaimed his grandson as he excitedly ran off to tell his friends.

The old man stopped for a moment, and walked towards the monument. As he stood in front of this memorial, he took in the details of the likenesses the were forever printed upon the rock.

There were several young warriors, all hailing from villages and cities that are now forgotten, a priestess, hailing from the Philippines, Two sisters wielding small swords and round shields, hailing from the Athens, a pirate, wielding nunchuku, a Monk Wielding a staff, a woman whom wielded a sword with no name, An elf, whom wielded a holy sword and shield, two Koreans, one wielding a zambatou and another wielding a Chinese scimitar.

Two Germans stood together, a young princess that held a spear and a sword, the other, a man who wielded a zweihander, a mercenary whom held close to his blade, a ninja who stood and gazed down upon the group with seriousness , a young woman with loving eyes, and finally, two young brothers, destined to make history, wielding two handed swords themselves, one, the youngest, held a sword of mighty proportions, the oldest, held a sword sharper then any. The Mid summer breeze had felt pleasant against this old mans weathered face as he looked at this motley crew.

"I remember it all like it was yesterday…." He said with a sigh.

* * *

It was Early in the morning, the sun was creeping over the beautiful green hills, the dew was still nurturing the soil and the plants, and the roosters were all starting to crow.

"Hey Maga, Wake up! We have to go help Ben at the farm today!" a young man said.

"Just a few more minutes, Dante" Maga Replied to his older brother.

Dante was 17 years of age ,had black wavy hair, and he's always had a 6' o'clock shadow. His eyes were green, and he wore a Brown leather vest and a pair of duelers breaches. Upon his head was a black headband that he wore proudly.

"We have to go now! He's expecting those new colts today! Remember?" Dante eagerly said.

Maga Shot up from his bed and said with a yawn

"Oh yea, I forgot. Let me get my clothes on then" He said ruffling his hair.

Maga Was sixteen years old, and had dark brown unkempt hair and brown eyes. He had put on his Leather vest and breaches as quickly as he could, and then placed a band on his head, and began ruffling his hair so it wouldn't be caught under it.

"Well," he said with a grin, "Lets get going, I don't wanna miss those colts!"

He and his brother Hurriedly ran down the light trodded path from their home and out of the village towards Ben's ranch.

* * *

"Are you excitied about this?" Maga asked his brother

"Of course I am, we've been working for months to earn those colts." Dante replied

"What do you think they'll look like? Or even ACT like?" Maga asked.

"I don't care what they'll look like, but i hope they're obedient. The last thing i want to deal with is a horse that wont listen."

As that conversation ended, they entered the gates of the ranch, to be greeted by their employer, Ben.

" Mornin' boys!" He said" Ready for them colts?"

"You know it!" The brothers said in unison.

"Me too, but they may not be arriving till much later, so in the mean-time, lets get some work done!"

"Okay." said Dante.

"What do you want us to do today?" Maga asked.

"Well, seeing as you two already got that barn clean, lets start cleanin' a few stalls and throw some hay in for the new arrivals today."

"Sure thing, Mr. Ben" Dante said.

After a long days work, Ben had sent the boys back home, because the new colts weren't arriving for a few hours. On the road back to their village, they started to talk about the work they had just done.

"Todays work wasn't so bad."Maga said to Dante.

"Yea, I know, but everything we've been working for will pay off in the end." Dante replied

"Yea." Maga said "So what are you going to name yours, brother?"

"hmmm…. I haven't really thought about it."

"I know what im naming my horse" Maga said proudly

"And what would that be?"

"Mejaro"

"That's and odd name for a horse"

"Well, it's better then zero, which is nothing, which is how many names you got for your colt!" Maga said quickly.

"Hmm… that's not a bad idea."Dante exclaimed.

"What?" Maga asked

"I think I'll name him Zero."

"And you said my name was weird."

As the two brothers neared their village, one of their friends, Turlon, Ran up to them.

"He guys" he said taking in deep breaths, "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Why?" Dante said.

"Because there's a bunch of bandits in town terrorizing everyone! You two need to help the rest of the men to fend them off!"

Bandits regularly terrorized the village, but this time, they pushed the village too far.

Dante looked to Maga and said "Let's hurry."

And with that, The brothers ran to their home and grabbed their weapons.

Upon entering their home, they quickly turned the the right of the open door way to gab thier weapons of choice

Dante and Maga both wielded Zwiehanders but they both had very different styles of using them.

Maga's style was more quick and less damaging blows whilst his older brother fought more

Aggressively, with more bone crushing attacks.

They made their way to the square, to finally join the retaliation against the thieves that never endingly terrorized the towns people.

"Well Dante," Maga said, " where do we start?"

"Pick one, and this time, don't feel sorry for these guys like that group we ran into a few weeks ago, these guys won't show you mercy so quickly."

"Why do you think they're attacking us though? Isn't it a little strange?" Maga asked

"They'll do anything if it means getting money, that's what sepperates us from these scumbags." Dante replied

Maga Ran to a single bandit, followed closely by Dante. Dante attacked first, as always is their tactic of battling. First, dante lifted his sword high into the air, and brought it down upon the ground surrounding the bandit, causing a cloud of dirt to fly everywhere, to temporarily blind the thief.

The Maga came in to erect a final blow upon the of the unlucky bandit, until he saw something in it's eyes. They were a crimson color. Maga found this very disturbing and stopped dead in his tracks. Just enough time for the bandit to run away.

"What the hell are you thinking!" Dante yelled" Why did you let him get away!"

"His eyes….."

"What about them! You get lost in them or something?"

"They were red."

"What? What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"It just caught me off guard, that's all!" Maga yelled back

"Don't let it happen again! He would have killed you if he had that chance!"

"There's more bandits out in the village, and all we're doing fucking arguing at each other!"

"Well, fine! I'll just go this way" Dante said whilst pointing to his left, "And YOU go that way" as he pointed in the other direction.

"Fine then!"

"Okay then, don't get killed!"

"I won't!"

Dante sped off in his direction.

"Man, sometimes he can be a real asshole" Maga said to himself as he ran in his direction.

"But then again, I guess he was right…."

Maga saw a pair of bandits dragging a blonde haired 16 year old , that he recognized to be one of his best friends, away into an alley

"Son of a bitch!" he cursed to himself as he ran into the alley.

* * *

"Keep your hands off of me!" Yelled a voice

"Not today cutie, i've been needing this for far too long." Said one of the Bandits as he started to reach under her shirt. The young girl flailed aroung and started to cry as she shut her eyes tight.

As the bandit continued to explore, his eyes widened, and stared out, at absolutely nothing. A Sword protruded into his back, severing his spine.

The other bandit, looked up to see a young man pulling a Large sword out of his acquaintance's back, lossened his tight grip on the girl and ran away in fright.

The young man reached a grabbed the young woman on the wrists.

"No, No! Don't touch me! Keep your hands away from me!" She yelled with her eyes still shut tight, still flailing away.

"Raine, its ok, its me, Maga. Now open your eyes, we have to get out of here. They're starting to burn the village down!." He said to her.

"huh?" she opened her eyes to see her greatest friend shed ever known."Thank you so much Maga!" she said, giving a teary eyed hug.

"It was no problem, but we need to go now." He said, putting an emphasize on the now.

She nodded and got up, and ran with Maga to safety outside of the village.

"Where's Dante?" She asked

"I'm sure is evacuating as many as he can, but I need to go back….. Wait, Where's your uncle Ben?"

"He said he wouldn't let those bandits have his horses over his dead body. Oh, Maga! You need to go to the ranch and help him before those bandits hurt him!" She cried

"I'll be right back, and stay out of sight from these guys, something tells me that more of them will to do that to you…" he said concerningly before he ran off to the ranch as fast as he could.

* * *

Clang!

"You guys just don't get it!" Dante yelled as he fended off four bandits from some children

"I cut more and more of you down, and yet you come back for more!"

He held his sword in his right, and he held the children back with his left.

One of the bandits lunged an punched him with such force that he plunged to the ground

"Kids, Runs!" he yelled to the children behind them.

"Listen buddy, why don't you join us? Our leader will grant you riches beyond your wildest dreams, and beautiful concubines every day as it pleases you." One of the bandits mused.

"If that's so, then where's your riches and women?" Dante mockingly replied.

This threw the bandits off for a moment. Where WERE their miles of women and cash?

"HNN.." one of the bandits groaned, as a sword stuck out of his stomach. The other three bandits ran in fear from what they had just seen.

Dante was startled for a moment as the bandit to the ground. As Dante raised his head, to see who had helped him. He could make out a figure wearing an odd lopsided cap, with a long green tunic and brown leggings. This mysterious warrior said nothing as he sheathed his sword and place a kite shield on his back. He held out a hand to help Dante up, and Dante accepted the gesture. They locked hands and the mysterious figure pulled Dante up to his feet.

"Thanks pal," Dante said as he was dusting himself off " Who are you?"

The man said nothing for a moment.

"My name … is Link" he replied.

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**Well, the day is March 26, 2010. I m saing tat because i just revised this chapter for your viewing pleasure. I'f i missed anything, then tell me, so i can correct the mistake.**

**Oh and don't forget to review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Safety, and a New Companion

**As unfortunate as it is, I have to state that I do not own soul caliber or Legend of Zelda.**

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His tale of souls and swords chapter two

As Dante raised his head, to see who had helped him. He could make out a figure wearing an odd lopsided green cap, with a long green tunic and brown leggings. This mysterious warrior said nothing as he sheathed his sword and placed a kite shield on his back. He Held out a hand help Dante up, and Dante accepted the gesture. They lock hands and the mysterious figure pulled Dante up to his feet.

"Thanks pal, "Dante said as he was dusting himself off "Who are you?"

The man said nothing for a moment.

"My name … is Link" he replied.

"Where did you come from?" Dante asked

Link didn't answer. He just pointed upwards.

"The sky? Yea right, tell me the truth."

Link just shrugged.

"Don't talk that much do ya? I'll find out where you came from when this is all over….

Well, I don't care, but maybe you can help with this bandit problem we got here." Dante said as two more bandits were running around looking for more pillage.

Link only nodded and pulled a bow out of his pouch and knocked an arrow.

"How'd you do that?" Dante asked with his eyes wide opened and locked on the bow.

"Magic" was the only thing link said, and then, He released the arrow onto a bandit charging at an old lady.

"Fair enough" Dante said, and then ran at another bandit swinging his Massive blade with ferocity.

* * *

"Oh man, I hope I get there in time." Maga said breathing heavily as he raced to the ranch.

After 12 minutes of never ending sprinting, he finally reached his destination.

Suddenly coming from the barn.

"Give me those horses old man!"

"Never you sap sucking mother fuckin' queer bait sorry toe steppin' son of a bitch!"

"You'll pay for your incolense!"

Maga Ran into the barn where he heard the voices yelling.

Just as The bandit raised his Sword, Maga intervened.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

"Huh?" The bandit breathed as e turned his head to where the voice had come from.

Ben took the chance to run behind a hay stack.

Maga Raised his sword and charged forward, to place a blow on the man's head when the Bandit turned around and blocked it with his scimitar. The bandit kicked Maga in the stomach. Maga, caught of guard by his retaliation, backed up and coughed, trying to catch his breath. Just then the bandit lunged at him, swinging hit scimitar with deadly accuracy and nearly gauged the tip of it in into Maga's eye. Maga took a step back as he analyzed his enemy.

"Lets see" He thought quickly to himself.

"Where are his openings?" he thought as the bandit unleashed another swell of attacks upon Maga.

All Maga could do is Block every one of them until he could find his opening.

The bandit ended his flurry of attacks for only a moment.

"This is it!" Maga screamed in his mind and he swung his sword in a chopping motion down on the man.

The thief jump out of the way of what would have been a fatal blow, but was not fast enough. With that chopping motion came down, it did not come down on his skull, but rather his arm, completely dismembering it to the floor. He wailed back in pain as he held his hand over a stump of where his left arm should be. He looked at Maga dead in the eyes.

"!" Maga thought. His eyes are Crimson, Just like the one he let go from earlier. This almost entranced Maga, when the Bandit performed one last sweeping motion with his sword, when an arrow struck him right between the eyes. His eyes rolled up , into his head , as blood slowly dripped off the end of the arrow, but barely, due to the mass of blood lost from his arm being severed. Maga turned around to see his familiar brother with an un-familiar man clad in green.

"Am I going to have to come to your rescue all the time?" Dante said with a grin on his face.

"Techiniqly I came to his rescue." Said the man next to him

"Pfft, I could have handled it!" Maga exclaimed.

"Who's that?" He asked

"This is Link" Dante replied " And don't worry about the bandit problem in town, its been taking care off."

"How did you know I was here?" Maga asked.

"A girl named Raine told us where you were at." Said Link

"Is she ok?"

"Yea she is" Dante said as Link nodded.

"Lets get going home then…. Hey Ben! It's okay to come out now!"Yelled Maga.

"Thanks the Gods!" Ben said caorsley as he got up out of a loose hey stack

As Maga ,Dante and Link were heading out, Ben stopped the group.

"You forgetting something?" He asked.

"Huh?" Maga looked around as if there was something he dropped.

Ben put his fingers to his mouth and Blew a loud whistle. A set of neighs could be heard coming from around the barn. Suddenly, two Black Colts Ran around the corner towards Maga and Dante.

"I comepletely forgot!!" Maga shouted as one of the horses was sniffing and nibbling on his Vest.

"They're yours boys. And as for you…"Ben said to Link.

"I may not have anything big, but you are welcomed back here anytime you wish."

Link smiled and nodded towards the man.

* * *

On the way back to the village, Maga was biraging Link with questions.

"Where'd you come from? Why are you here"

Link showed no sign of irritation and pointed up to the sky.

"The sky? I don't get it."Maga said looking up

"I came here looking for something."

"And what would that be?" Dante asked.

Link opened his pouch and pulled out a little box with a fragment of skin… or is it metal?

"That looks nasty, What is it?" Maga said.

Dante was transfixed upon this small shard of mystery.

"I'ss tell you in a safer place.."Link responded quitly as he quickly tucked the box back into his pouch.

"Okay then, how do you hole some much stuff in that little pack?"

Link simply replied, "Magic."

The three continued into the village where Maga interrupted an intriguing conversation between Dante and Link.

"He guys, I'll be back, I've got to go see Raine." He said as he took a hard left and pulled his new colt along.

The other two didn't seem to notice as they were caught into a deep conversation about the possible motives of the bandits sudden attack.

Maga walked passed burnt buildings and stables that were reduced to nothing but ash, he walked passed families that cried over fallen loved ones, and over homelessness. Maga's stomach dropped a little as he saw this. It truly did sadden him to see so much pain. He walked to the end of the path to Raines house and knocked on the slightly charred door.

"One minute." Said an all too familiar female voice as footsteps neared the door.

The door creaked open as Raine peered out the opening.

She rushed out and hugged Maga tightly, with almost bone crushing strength.

"Oh Maga! Your safe! Is Uncle Ben safe too!?" She said in a flurry of excitement.

"Yes, he's safe, I made sure of it."

"That's great! Oh, how rude of me, come in and sit down.. on what ever you can find to sit in that is." She said as her voiced lowered into a slightly gloomy state.

Maga tied his colt to a boulder in front of the house and as he walked in, he took notes of what was left inside. All that was left, was a single chair, piles of torn and or burned books, half the roof had caved in, and there was dirt all throughout the house.

"It's seen better days" Raine said calmly over a hidden sadness.

"Yea, no kidding." Maga replied as he just took a seat on the floor in front of the chair.

"Are you okay, you know, after those guys….." Maga began

"I'm fine, thanks to your heroicness." Raine said

"Heroicness? "Maga said smiling , " I was expecting more like awesomeness." Lightening up moods was a speciality of Maga's. Raine only laughed

"And don't forget your modesty" Raine giggled back in a happier tone

"Hey, Maga. Can you wait a second here? I need to go change out of these dirty things" Raine said as she pointed out her dirty clothing.

"sure thing."

"And NO peeking, or I won't give you your gift I have for you" Raine said

"Well, I guess I won't if im getting a present" Maga said with a friendly smile on his face.

"okay, I'll be right back." Raine said leaving Maga to himself for a few minutes.

After a few moments, she reappeared in a new set of clothing.

She had brushed her short dark blond hair back to the beautiful waves that naturally took place , and wore here normal brown cloth shirt, and here white pants. She ,unlike many of the other women of the village, wore leather boots instead of dainty sandals. Her reason for such was that it isn't fun going around and you step in a puddle of water and get your socks wet. Her impression kinda gave a tomboyish personality, always wanting to go and gather wood or go fishing with Maga on the weekends or train with Dante every other day.

"Okay, close your eyes and hold out your hands"

Maga did as he was told and in his hands plopped something soft and woolly feeling.

"You can open them now" Raine said. Maga opened his eyes and looked at what was in his hands.

"What is it?" He asked

"Its your gift. It's a bracelet I made out of sheeps-wool. See?"

"Maga examined it a bit more and smiled wide.

"Thanks Raine, I'll cherish it so long as our friendship lasts." Maga said kindly

"And how long do you think that is?" Raine said

"Forever" Maga said warmly

"Better have, I've snuck into my house at night too many times when Dante would get mad at you and lock you out of your home." Raine giggled.

"Speaking of which, how are you and your uncle going to live in here? The roof might cave in on us any minutes."

" We'll get by ,Maga. But thanks for worrying."

"Okay, if you insist." There was a loud neigh outside.

"Oh yea! I forgot, I want you to meet my horse!"Maga said as he grabbed Raines hand and pulled her outside. Raine blushed at this, but hid it so Maga wouldn't notice.

"AS they walked outside, Raines eyes lit up brightly as she saw the beautiful colt standing out in front of her home.

"He's so pretty, what are you going to name him?"

"I'm debating between Killmiester and Mejaro." He said snickering a little as he did so.

Raine only shot Maga a little "Nuh-uh" look.

"But" He added quickly" I'm leaning more towards Mejaro." Smiling as he did so.

"That's a lot better then killmiester." Raine said in a sarcastic tone

"I guess it is."

"Well, I like Mejaro. It's a nice name, soo, because I like Mejaro, you'll name him so." She said in a kind of demanding but fun voice.

"Well, if her royal highness wishes it, then so be it!" Maga said making a clumsy bow towards Raine.

This made Raine giggle and laugh until her stomach hurt. She enjoyed these little games Maga and her play.

"Well, I'm going to back to Dante and that new guy. I want to see what those things he had were."

Maga said as he untied Mejaro from his boulder.

"What did he have?"Raine asked curiously

"a weird piece of something he called a ultimate evil or something like that."Maga said while adding a spooky voice to the end.

"Well, I kinda want to see that now too." Raine said while rubbing her head, wondering what it could be.

"Come on with me then." Maga said

"I think I might not be able to walk there, seeing all the running around I did today." Raine said.

"Well then, hop onto Mejaro. He can hold ya" Maga said cheerfully.

"He's far to tall for me, and plus he has no saddle"

""And that's the way I intend it to be. Now, I'll just help you up onto him then."

Maga said.

He kneeled down and locked his hands together for Raine to step onto, as sort of a step.

She stepped onto them, holding onto Mejaro for balance, and swung her leg around onto the horse.

"Alright, ill just lead him and you just relax." Maga said to Raine.

She didn't argue. She liked it when Maga led her around everywhere, and this is no exception.

"Off we go then!" she said cheerfully, as they made their way through the village, Looking for Dante and Link.

* * *

**I'd like to thank my neighbor Ben for giving me a personality for the character "Ben" in this story and I'd like to say a few things.**

**I work partially as a sort of Ranch hand/stable boy, for my neighbor . And he always speaks his mind and will always help anyone that asks for it. But is in no way going to hide, like the ben in this story. But if you piss him off, he'll defiantly let you know. I even got the cursing phrase in this story from him. He's awesome, and once again, thanks.**


	3. Chapter 3: An Idea

**My fellow Fan Fiction readers.. I am disappointed to say that I do not own soul caliber or legend of zelda, in any way. I Never had, and I Never will. **

"So, you mean to tell me, that those weird pieces you got in your box are really a demonic sword?" Dante asked His new companion , Link. It was getting dark out, dusky if that. They sat at the local inn, conversing about the bandits, the shard, and other things.

Link only nodded and sipped on a cup a what Dante called Mead. He didn't mind much about the bitter taste of it. It sure was allot better then drinking those weird concoctions those old witches give him.

"And your looking for more fragments of this thing? Why don't you just destroy them along the way?"

"Because you can only destroy the sword if it is fully complete, or at least near it's completion. The most I can do with these things is purify them so that they are less evil. But that won't really matter."

"Why not?"

"It's like the sword is.. magnetic towards them. Like it pulls them in closer, or worse… the other way around"

"How do you know all of this?" Dante asked.

"I've been searching for a while now."

"So why did you come here?"

"Those bandits. "

"What about them?"

"I'm sure you've noticed. They have a certain unusual trait. You've noticed this, yes?"

"Their eyes…" Dante said a little lower voiced so no one around them can hear their intimate conversation.

"Indeed, those aren't natural to your world are they not? They were tainted by the sword."

"MY world? Dante asked suspiciously

"That is what I said isn't it?" Link said calmly while slowly drinking his mead

" Still playing the "Im from the sky" Thing aren't you? Well, I gotta say, you sure can stick to your story."

"It's easy to remember because its true" Link said

"Okay then, convince me that your not from MY world" Dante mocked.

"Okay" and with that, Link pulled off his lopsided cap, to show his very , and visibly, pointy ears.

"You're an elf?" Dante said in a hushed tone as link quickly placed his hat back on.

"Well, in your world yes, but in mine, im Hylian. Thus the name of my world, Hyrule. All of its people have ears look like this. The Hylians, the Koriki, even the Gerudo."

"The who what now?" Dante couldn't understand what Link was saying.

"well, it's a long story, but sadly, I don't have time to tell it to you."

"and why is that?"

"Well, I have to leave tomorrow, I AM still searching for the sword."

"Hmmm, I can't argue with that. Heres an idea!" Dante exclaimed

"I'll come with you, and Maga too, we can search for this sword and destroy it together."

"I wouldn't ask you to leave your home just to help me."

"It's not to help you" Dante said " If this sword is what you say it is, then your not the only one who is going to have a problem with it."

"True."

"it won't stop, and if it does manage to get complete, then who's to say it wont find it's way here to this little secreted town?"

"Again, True" Link said

"Okay then, tomorrow, Maga and I will be packed, and we'll come with you. Do you have a horse? If not, Ben will be more then happy too give you one."

"I have a horse, but I do not own her."

"So you stole her?"

"No, I am her master, but she is a free and untamed spirit. For that, I do not own her."

"Makes sense."

"Hey there you guys are!"

Link and Dante turned around to see Maga and Raine standing behind them with smiles on their faces.

"Good timing brother." Dante said to Maga

"Hello Dante" Raine said politely

"Good evening Raine, did you get hurt today?" Dante asked conserningly.

"No, but I am a little exhausted from it."

"It is indeed, an exhausting thing to live through a battle" Link spoke wisely.

"Oh sorry, I didn't entroduce myself." Link said politely as he stood up

"I am link, and you are?" link said

"Hello link, My name is Raine Surnet"

"That is a beautiful name" Link said while smileing warmly. Raine Blushed a little, and Maga noticed it.

" So what were those thing you had in the box" Maga blurted out quickly, trying to change the subject.

" Pieces of a demonic sword, that, if comepleted, will turn this world along with Links, into a land of darkness. It will destroy everyone, and devour their souls." Dante said smoothely.

"Woah, that's bad" Maga said sitting down

"Yea" Raine said, while also sitting down.

"Maga, we need to go pack, were leaving tomorrow."Dante said bluntly

"Why?"

"we're going on a little… adventure. And I don't know how long it will be."

"Really? Maga said suspiciously , his brother used to play tricks on him when he was little, always saying that they were going on an adventure or a quest, when in reality, Dante just made Maga do his chores.

"Really." Dante said

Maga looked at link and Link nodded. That was enough more Maga, After that, he was excited and it shone through a large , beaming smile on his face.

"Finally! I get to leave this town!"Maga said.

"Don't you like it here?"Raine asked

"Ofcourse I do, but I want to see more." Maga said " I do enjoy hanging out with everyone, working for your uncle, being with you…" Maga said and decreased to a halt. Raine was wildly blushing. And everyone noticed it.

"Are you okay Raine?" Maga asked cluelessly.

"Your going to just go? And leave me here all by myself? No one else here can make me laugh like you do!" Raine pouted.

"I was planning on it." Maga said in an embarrassed tone while rubbing the back of his head.

"Well your not! Because I'm coming with you!" Raine said and stood up victoriously, "I'll get my things, and spend the night at your house, so you don't forget to come get me!"

Link leaned towards Dante and whispered

" Does she realize what were doing?"

"I'm afraid so" Dante said as he looked to Link

" Can she protect herself at all?"

"Ofcourse, Ive taught her every thing she knows."

"Well then, I guess she can come, but we can't let anyone know about it, for secretion purposes" Link said quietly

"Ok then."

"Maga, take Raine back to her house and help her gather her things and her effects" Dante said to his brother.

"Link and I will meet you at the house, I still have a few things to talk to him about."

"Sure thing." Maga said as he grabbed Raine's Hand and pulled her out the door in a flash.

"Well, you enjoying it here in my world?" Dante said with a grin

You know, not a lot of people are nice here, I met a redheaded guy a while back, and all he wanted to do is prove his streangth and stuff like the" He replied.

"Oh, and was that like "Dante asked

"It wasn't very fun, he was a total jerk the whole time " Link said as he got up. He wobbled a bit as he stood in place.

"Whaoh, I feel weird,"

"That'd be the drink. The only way to fix that is to drink more." Dante said cunningly

"Really?" Link raised his eye brow "Well, I'll drink some more."

And more they drank. And then more, and then too many, because when they left the inn, they were both red faced, smiling about nothing, and laughing at everything, and could barely stand straight.

* * *

"So Maga….."Raine started " Did you really mean what you said back there?"

"What? About planning to leave without you? Kinda….. but I was going to say goodbye!" He added quickly.

"No, not that, that you enjoyed being with me."

"Ofcourse, you're the greatest friend ive ever known, we've helped each other out of problems since we were kids."

"and we also got into A LOT of trouble too, remember?"

"Yea, but it was worth it"

"Lets get your things" He said as they neared her house. It had almost become very dark. And there was no moonlight out to help them see.

"Can you get a lantern too while we're here?"Maga asked

"Why, afraid of the dark?"

"NO!" he said quickly

"I just don't want to stub my toe or anything"

"What ever you say" Raine replied.

A few minutes passed by when Raine came back out from the house with her belongings. It consisted of two days worth of clothing, a lantern, an empty book and pen, and an extra set of boots. Along with that, she had thrown pans and pots onto the side of her pack,

"That's A LOT of stuff" Maga said

"Its good to be prepared for anything" Raine said snootingly.

Then aren't you forgetting something?" Maga asked

"What?"

"Your uncle?" Maga said slowly to give Raine a hint.

"Nope, I told him I was traveling with you and Dante to see some family"

"You lier" Maga grinned

"Its better then saying, 'Oh hey uncle ben, im going to go with Dante and Maga and a complete stranger to fight off a demonic sword from destroying the world and covering it in darkness, bye!" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"Point taken'" Maga said.

"Let's head to my house now, we'll wait for Dante inside"

"Okay" And with that, Maga, Raine, and Mejaro headed for his home.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Like the story so far? I think that this is going to be a shortest chapter of the story. I wanted to add more, but after I kept adding things, my story kept rewriting. So I just went with the flow. If you have any tips to make the story better , then please, **

**Pm me. I'd like to make this as enjoyable for you as it is for me.**


	4. Chapter 4:The Rude Awakening, It Begins

"**Say it."**

"**no"**

"**SAY IT!" **

"**FINE! I don't own Soul calibur or Legend of Zelda"**

"**Was that so hard?"**

"**Fuck you, man, FUCK YOU!"**

* * *

" I never really got like this from drinks, in my world" Link slurred

"It's an almost every other night thing for mmee" Dante clumsily replied

"What are they called?" Link said

"Well, in my world, its called alcohol. Its gotta be the bestest thing humans have created"

" We have something likes that in my worldsh.." Link slurred

"It's called Lon Lon Milk . I never was really interested in it.." Just then, link tripped on a small rock, but caught himself

" Who put that there?" He asked

"I don't know man, it's just always been there." Dante said in an unconcerning tone

"When are we getting to your home, I need to lay down before anymore rocks attack me."

"We're almost there…. See? There's Maga and Raine and the horses waiting for us."

* * *

Maga and Raine stood in front of his house, waiting for Dante and Link to arrive. It was very late into the night, and the two were getting very tired.

"I wonder when they're going to get here??" Maga said with a yawn.

"Me too" Raine replied.

"Well, at least there aren't anymore bandits around."

"Yea, I hope I don't get in a situation like that again.." Raine shivered as she spoke.

"Don't worry, I Promise that won't happen ,as long as your with me." Maga said warmly.

"Thanks.."

Laughter could be heard in the distance.

"We're almost there.." could be heard from two men, who were quickly identified as Link and Dante.

"Where have you two been?" Raine said

"Yea, we've been waiting forever" Maga added

"Why didn't you just go inside?" Dante asked aggressively

"Because you got the key , dick" Maga replied

"Oh" Dante walked over to the door and fumbled around for his key. He was searching for at least two minutes when , finally, he produced a key from his vest pocket.

"Tadaa!" He proclaimed

"Ok, now lets hurry up and get inside, I'm tired" Maga complained.

"Hold your horses, what's the rush?" Dante unknowingly spoke.

"The adventure? Tomorrow? To save the world?!"Maga started to get frustrated with his brother

"Oh yeah." He said as they slipped inside.

"I'm going to lay down" Link said as he chose a place to just fall to the ground

"Okay. Me too" Dante said , falling down in a chair.

"Sometimes, I wonder why you put up with that."Raine whispered to Maga

"You can't choose family." Maga Whispered back. As he and Rained walked further back into the house towards the guest room.

"Here you go, you remember where the bathroom is right?" Maga said.

"Yes, Maga, I do." She replied.

"Ok, good night." Maga said as he walked further to his room.

"Good night…Sweet dreams Maga.."Raine whispered to her self as she enter the guest room.

Raine sighed as she plopped down on the bed.

"I'm a little worried." She spoke to herself

"What if we fail? What if we all die? Dante and Maga are sure taking this lightly… Why did I WANT to come along?!" She asked herself. She thought about it for a while.

"I know why" She said lying on the rarely used guest room bed " It's because Maga is going… I don't want him to go for a long time, just by himself. He's my Best friend , and if he were to die…. I don't know what I would do….. knowing I wasn't with him every step of the way.."She said groggily, as she slowly fell into a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, in his room next to hers, Maga quietly listened to Raine speaking of her worries.

"I don't know what to do, I don't want her to come… I Don't want her getting hurt… But she obviously doesn't want the same for me…. I can't leave her behind tomorrow… She'll just follow our tracks…." He sighed. " Well, I pray, to all the gods, Just let her be safe on our journey.." He slowly fell to sleep , where he can dream about what may lie ahead of him and his friends….

* * *

Light was coming over the hills, the roosters were crowing, and the dew glistened over the plant life.

:Hey Maga wake up!" Raine said as she shook Maga aggressively.

"HUH? Oh, right, ok I'm up, I'm up." Maga spoke groggily .

"Lets go wake Dante up!" She said with a snicker.

"Oh, you are so evil."Maga said back as he grinned.

Maga got out of bed , and he and Raine snuck past Link and Dante as they stepped outside.

"Okay, here's the plan." Maga said to Raine as she intently listened " You get a bucket, and meet me out back, we'll fill them up with cold water, and splash them onto Dante."

"Not link?"

"I think he'll get woken up when Dante is yelling a cursing at the top of his lungs" Maga chuckled.

Raine grabbed a bucket from beside the house as they headed behind it. She handed it to Maga as he lowered the bucket that was already there down into the well. He pulled it back up, handed it to Raine, and lowered the other down as well. After filling both pales up with ice cold water, they slowly snuck back into the house and stood in front of the sleeping Dante. Maga signaled Raine, and then they both splashed the water onto Dante and took several steps backs as they did so.

"WHAT THE FUCK! SON OF A FUCKING WHORE!!" Dante yelled as he jumped up from the chair, dripping wet.

"WHAT THE HELL MAGA-Owwwww!" He said as he put both of his hands on his head.

"I am so Pissed at you Maga! And Raine, you I expected better from you!" He hissed as he slowly made his way to bedroom to change. The two started laughing at the top of their lungs.

"What's so funny?" Link said, keeping his eyes slightly closed as he stood up from the floor.

" Aww…. My head is throbbing like crazy" He said as he rubbed his temples with he index fingers

"Welcome to the hangover, Link" Raine said.

Link looked over to the now soaked up chair.

"What happened to that?"

"Just a little wake up call for Dante" Maga said with a smile.

"Well, you wont need to do that to me… I'm awake." Link said as he slowly stood up from his sleeping spot on the floor.

"There a way to get rid of this hangover?" He asked Raine and Maga.

"Just walk it off. That's the only way I know."Maga said, knowing far to well what it was like to have a hangover.

* * *

When he was about twelve years old, He and Raine had stolen something that was imported from Japan from the inn, called Saki. Together, that evening , he and Raine went to the nearby lake about 30 minutes away from the vilage. There was a small under water cavern that he and Raine dubbed their little hide out. That evening they had drank only half of the bottle when they couldn't even stand. They just laughed and rolled around with each other on the ground of the cavern. Then they got very , very, sick. And started throwing up left and right. They decided to just stay in the cavern that night.

The two fell asleep for hours, when they both woke up, their heads felt like they would explode.

"Let's not try THAT again.." Raine's voice echoed

"Yea no kidding…" Maga Moaned in pain.

"Stop whining, your making my head hurt worser.." Raine replied

"As you wish your highness….." Maga said, as he stood, he bowed very clumsily, and then fell backwards.

Raine giggled for a moment, but it was soon followed by a painful throb from her head.

"You know Maga you're the Bestest friend I've had.." Raine said

"Thanks Raine.. you're my best friend too….." Maga's voice echoed

* * *

Dante opened the door to his clothes box, and grabbed a few pairs of slops, and two pairs of shirts.

"Sometimes, I swear, I'll get so pissed at him, and I'll kill his ass." Dante said angrily under his breath

"What a fucking way to start the day… a hangover, all wet, and now, I swear I hate Maga even more now." He threw his clothes into a bag, and gathered up all his money. After counting it up, he noted that there was thirty five gold pieces, 40 silver coins, and 5 bronze caltz. The caltz were a "Small change" currency in his village. But, he took it with him anyways.

"It can still come in handy." He told himself as he left his bedroom.

"You guys ready to go?"Dante said to the group.

"Ive been ready since yesterday."Maga said to his brother.

"Did you grab your money?" Dante asked to Maga and Raine. They both nodded.

"I've only got 10 gold pieces, but I have at least 30 bronze caltz."Maga said.

"I only have 10 Caltz." Raine said in a disappointed voice.

"That's ok."Dante said.

"Hey guys, what about these?" Link said as he pulled out a gem. Maga , Raine, and Dante opened their eyes wide as they saw it.

"I have a lot of these, they're the currency of my world." Link explained" They're called Rupees"

"That'll cover anything and everything!" Raine blurted.

"Then were on our way!" Maga said And started to walk out the door with the group closely behind.

Once outside the group were getting ready to mount their horses.

"One second" Link said as he produced a weird blue piece of wood from his pouch.

"What's that?" Raine asked curiously

Link didn't answer, he put his lips to it and began blowing into it, producing notes and soon a melody.

A neigh could be heard in the distance, when over the horizon, came a tan colored Mare, trotting towards link. When the horse arrived, in came to a halt.

"What a beautiful horse!" Raine shouted with awe.

"This is Epona, She's the only traveling companion I've ever had, until now that is." He quickly added with a warm smile.

Dante placed a saddle blanket and then latched a saddle atop of it and mounted his horse, Zero, and Maga hopped onto Mejaro and helped Raine up onto him as well.

"You don't have a horse Raine?" Link asked

"Not really…. I would have asked my uncle, but what time did I have for that?" she answered back

The truth was she just wanted to ride on Mejaro with Maga.

"Ok, What ever you say."

And thus their adventure began, what lie ahead, they didn't know, but they were sure they could Pass any obstacle, and reach their goal.

* * *

**Ok, I can't really remember if Epona is brown or tan. But tan sounds a lot better, so I picked that.**

**Hope you enjoyed chapter 4! Ive still got ALOTS more to go… but I'll enjoy it every step of the way!**

**If there's anything you think I should improve on, then please, PM me and let me know. It's not much fun making a story that no one else would enjoy to their fullest.**


	5. Ch 5:To Know a friend more, Overreaction

**I'd like to state that I don't own Soul Calibur, Legend of Zelda, or taco bell.**

**OH I do Own Maga, Dante, Raine, Turlon, Mejaro, AND ZERO! I still am in command! Kinda.....**

* * *

Four days had past since they group embarked on their perilous journey. And still, no trace of any shards, corrupted bandits, or demonic, soul sucking sword.

"Don't we have ANY leads?" Maga asked

"None at all, I don't really have a tactic down for this yet. I just wander around until I hear someone mention it.." Link said calmly as they all trotted through a light patch of forest.

"Well, didn't you say something about the shards being a attracted towards each other?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then why don't you open that box up, and which ever way the shards react the most, that's the direction we head in" Raine said

The group just looked at her in bewilderment.

"What?" She asked shrugging

"That's a perfect idea!" Maga said " Your so smart." He said as he elbowed Raine, making her blush.

"Oh, it was nothing.." she said.

"Lets try it out then." Link said as he hopped off of Epona.

He reached into his pouch, and pulled out the blue box that held the shard in it. The group watched closely, as link started spinning around slowly, seeing which way the shard will react the most. After he had done at least two circles, he stopped and pointed.

"That way." He said as he closed the box and placed it back in his pouch

"You sure?" Dante said

"Well, it glowed a little when it was pointing in that direction."

"Which way is that?" Raine asked

"East, towards Athens ."Dante said

"I've never been there" Raine replied

"Neither have I" Maga said

"Yes you have" Dante said "When you were probably about three. Mom and dad took us there, to get you blessed by the gods. At least, that's what mom wanted, dad didn't care much for it, seeing as he wasn't a Greek and didn't believe in gods." Dante explained.

"Well I don't remember"

"I do."

"Well, what ever, lets just go. Before anything unwanted runs into us." Dante said

* * *

They went East, and Rode for hours upon end on the horses. when they came up to a stream, They decided to finally take a break. After the had let their horses drink from the stream, they tied them to a log washed up on the bank of the stream. Except for link. Maga and Dante decided to get some fire wood when Raine walked up to link, Who was still standing next to Epona, patting her on the neck.

"Aren't you afraid she'll run away?" Raine asked him

"She'll always come when I call her." Link said.

"Oh yea, That's a neat little instrument you have. What is it called?" She asked

"It's called an ocarina. This is called the ocarina of time," He said as he pulled it out from his pouch

"It's a holy item in my world. Reserved for the Hero of time.." He said as his voice trailed off.

"Who's the Hero of Time?" She asked him

"I am"

"Oh wow, what do you do? Save a princess and stuff?"

"Pretty much."He continued, "The hero of Time Is the holder of a piece of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage."

"What's the Triforce?"

"A holy artifact, that if ever fully together, grants the wish of the first one that touches it, whether it be good or evil."

"How many pieces are there?" She asked

"Three, the Triforce of power, wisdom, and courage."

"Where do you hold them?"

Link turned his left hand around so she could see the back of it, showing her the triangles linked together into the shape of one big triangle.

"There?" She asked pointing at his hand

Link nodded.

"So, who has the other pieces?" She asked curiously

"The Queen of Hyrule, Queen Zelda, has the Triforce of wisdom. And the Triforce of power belongs to the most evil man in Hyrule. Gannondorf.

"Why?"

"Just because, I guess."

"Have you beaten him? You know, to get the Triforce of power from him?"

"Countless times. In the past, my ancestors have all defeated him, but he just comes back. It's an endless battle for power and rule for him."

"What do you mean ancestors? How old can this guy be?"

"Very, but when he is beaten, he is reincarnated ."

"That's horrible" she said.

"So," she said, trying to lighten the mood, "Do you love your Queen?" She asked in a toying tone of voice.

"No, I merely serve her.." Link said

"Do you have someone you love?" She asked

"Yes."

"Ooohhh really? What is her name? and what's she like?"

"Saria.. She's the kindest, smartest and most beautiful person I've ever known. She gave up her Immortality for me, and since then, we've never been separated.

It wasn't originally going to be that way though." He added ," She was supposed to be the Sage of the Forest, But after Meeting one of our greatest friends, XT , was talked out of it, and realized she loved me. With the help of XT of course"

"That's sooo romantic." Raine cooed in awe. "Are you two married?"

"Yes, we also have a daughter"

"What's her name?"

"Lilly"

"That's such a beautiful name."

"Thank you." He said, as he tended to the rest of the horses.

* * *

"We're back!" Shouted a voice from the woods.

Raine turned around to see Maga, and Dante entering the campsite, with wood in their arms.

"Took long enough!" Raine shouted back as she rushed over to help Maga with his armful of wood.

"Thanks, We wanted to make sure we had enough wood for tonight." He said as Raine took some wood from him.

"No help for me?"Dante said as he hauled more wood in his arms than Maga.

"You look like you can handle it." She said politely to him as she quickly caught up with Maga and walked beside him. The two got to the center of the campsite, and laid the firewood in a pile and sat down on the log the Horses were all tied too. Dante, sweating profusely, reached the pile of sticks that Maga and Raine laid down, and dropped his heavy load of wood on top. Gasping for air, he slowly made his way next to his brother and slumped down next to him.

"Your slow" Maga said to him

"You had lighter wood, and on top of that, you got help." He replied in an aggravated tone.

"Well, it's not my fault you can't make friends as well as I can" Maga quickly answered

"I'm letting you live aren't I ?" He replied with a tired chuckle

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. You don't kill friends."

"Or family" Maga shot back at him

"I suppose so." He said with a shrug

"So, who's going to light the first fire of our journey?" Raine said happily.

"Not me, I carried the wood here." Dante said

"Me too" Maga said

"Well I don't know how to start wood." Raine said.

Then all eyes turned to Link, who was sitting on a rock across from them.

He looked at them and pointed to himself as if he was saying "Me?".

He stood up and shrugged as he walked to the pile of sticks and pulled out an arrow. He held it out as the end of it lit, and dropped it into the pile of wood , lighting it.

"How did you do that?" Maga said

"Magic" Link replied.

"The one word wonder…" Dante said " I can really use a drink right about now…."

"That's just a sacrifice you had to make" Maga said, " Besides, you're no use if your drunk."

"Yea" Raine added

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed" Dante said in a depressed tone as he stood up from the log and walked to the far end of the camp.

"He is just not complete without his alcohol." Maga whispered

"But," He added " I'd rather not have to deal with his drunk self."

"I still don't understand why you let him drink." Raine said sternly

"I've got no problem with it." He replied. "I can't tell him how to live his life…."

"But it would help to let him know how you feel about it."

"Yea, right, with that thick skull of his."

A few moments of silence passed,

"So, Link, Tell me more about your world." Raine piped.

"Well, it looks very similar to this world….."Link began.

That night, Link told Maga and Raine about his world, all down to the last detail. And after they said their goodnights and went to bed, Raine dreamt about the un-known world of Hyrule. How peaceful it sounded, and How fun it would be to meet all the interesting people Link had described…….

* * *

A shirtless Maga was the first to wake the next morning, yawning and taking in the light of dawn. He scratched his hair, and walked to what used to be their campfire. After kicking dirt on the embers it left behind, he walked towards the small stream and splashed water on his face and upper body.

"That feels good…" He said.

Feeling refreshed, Maga stood up and walked to where he had laid his shirt down the night before and picked it up to put it on, when he noticed a movement it the forest line.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Okay! Sheesh, so bossy." Said a mysterious voice.

Out walked a young woman, holding a staff with a blade on the end of it. Her brown hair was tightly braided and hung far past her shoulder blades, and wore slightly revealing green clothing with pink blossoms on the bottom half of it.

"What's going on.." Raine said groggily as she sat up and looked around. She saw Maga standing shirtless staring towards the forest line.

"What are you doing."Said aloud with a yawn as she got up from her cot. She didn't notice the woman emerging from the forest line, or the branch on the ground in front of her.

"I'm feeling a bit… umph" She felt herself say, pummeling face first to the ground.

"Ooowwhowhowhow" She moaned in pain

Maga turned to see what had happened when the Woman in green walked up to him and hit him hard in the stomach with the butt end of her weapon, knocking Maga to the ground. Coughing and gasping for air, he quickly grabbed the staff-like weapon from her hands and threw it towards the camp.

"Maga!" Yelled Raine as she ran to Maga, waking up the others.

"What the hell is going on?" Dante said as he shot up quickly.

The Woman in green kicked Maga in the chin, knocking him out cold, and continued a line of thrashing attacks upon him.

"Oh shit!" Dante said, searching franticly for his sword.

Suddenly, another voice came from the tree-line.

"Mina! Please, stop!"

The woman in green stopped her barrage of attacks upon Maga.

"Why? I thought you said they had pieces of the Evil Seed?" She replied back

"I didn't say hurt them!"

"Well he saw me!"

Out ran another woman from the tree line towards Maga. Her age wasn't easily guessed, but she was definitely younger then Maga. Her Hair was braided to the sides of her head, and she wore White clothing with transparent pants that had ornaments of sorts attached upon it.

Dante had already woken link up, who armed himself with his sword and shield. They both ran to help their beaten comrade , and slowed to a halt as they neared him.

Raine was already kneeling on the ground with Maga's head in her lap, trying to comfort him.

"Please, let me help you." Came a voice from in front of her. She looked up to see the young girl who had stopped the fight. The stranger helped Raine pick Maga up and pull him over to the campsite, and lay him down on his cot.

"Talim, Why are you helping them? I thought they were evil!" Cried the woman in green

"You thought wrong Mina."The girl replied, then turning to face Raine.

"I'm truly sorry for my friends reaction. She reacts faster than she thinks." She said remorsefully

Dante and Link were oblivious to what just happened.

"So, no attacking anymore?" Dante said loud enough for the young girl to hear.

"I promise you, I will refrain my friend from hurting any of you ."

"What's your name" Dante asked, as he and Link slowly lowered their weapons.

"I am Talim, and this is Seong Mina" She said calmly as she pointed to the now embarrassed lady in green.

"Heh… sorry…." Mina said whilst rubbing the back of her head.

"I think you should just stand back for a bit" Raine spat towards the newcomer.

"I said I was sorry!" she shot back

"You'll just have to wait until Maga regains his consciousness before you start apologizing!"

"I'm not saying sorry again!"

"Yes you are!"

"Nuh-uh"

"Yeah-huh"

The two were arguing back and forth for a long time, and many "Yeah-huhs" and "Nuh-uhs" were heard all through-out the argument.

"When do you think they'll stop?" Dante whispered to Talim

"From the looks of it.. not any-time soon…." She whispered. "Mina is .. hard headed at times. I don't think she'll give up without a fight."

And so the argument continued on and on, until late into the night.

* * *

"I Loathe you!" Raine shouted at Mina

"Well, I Loathe you!" she shouted back

"I Loathe you more!"

"I Loathe you more!" _**(A/N: Okay, I just love the use of the word Loathe, because it feels so much more then hate.)**_

"I Loathed you first!"

"Nuh-uh, I Loathed you first!"

"Just Forget it! Your such a hard headed Bitch!" Raine shouted _**(Go Raine Go!)**_

"So I win?" Mina asked

"NO! I'm just tired of yelling at you!"

"I win."

"No you don't!"

* * *

From a distance away from the two, Dante, Link, and Talim were sitting next to the still unconscious Maga, talking about the shards.

"So, Your searching for them to?" Dante asked Talim, who was drinking some herbal tea.

"Yes, we're looking to destroy the evil seed, so that we may purify the world from it's evil"

"How has your plan been working?"

"It's had it's struggles, but Mina and I have overcome, so it's going well. Now, about your shard, I must purify it." She said to Link

"Link's already tried, he said he can't do it."Dante said.

"But, I can."Talim said to him.

Link looked at Dante and gave him a "What do we have to lose" look. Dante nodded, and link began to search in his pack for the blue box containing the shard. After a few moments of searching, he pulled it out, and handed it to Talim. After looking at it Talim spoke a prayer in a language neither of them new.

After she was done, a gust of wind blew, and she looked up.

"It is done." She said politely.

"It's not evil anymore?" Dante asked.

"Oh no, it still is, but it's been purified. It can be held without one falling into it's evil grasp. Should it come in contact with other shards, it will regain it's evil aura, and fuse with the other shards." She said as she handed the box back to Link.

"Why is Mina tagging along with you? If you have set out to purify the sword, then she must have the same goal right?" Dante asked as Link took the box from Talim.

"No, She is looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Well," She said as she stood up. " He's about this high  
She said raising her hand into the air, " Has Red spiky hair, a short temper, and according to mina, a big ego. He's a very good friend of hers, but he's left in search of the sword, under a false pretence, thinking it is a sword of salvation."

Link thought for a moment. "Red spiky hair? A short temper? And a big ego? Why does it sound familiar…..?" His eyes rolled and he let out a exhaustive moan.

"What?" Dante asked.

"It's THAT guy…." He said

"You've seen him? Where?"Talim asked.

"I traveled with him for a while.. he was a real jerk." Link began

"Oh, really? Hmm, I think you should tell Mina where you saw him last."

"Well, it was maybe six months ago when I last saw him, and we were heading west, towards Ostriensburgh , Because that's where we heard The sword was seen last, but when we got there, there was nothing but a broken down chapel, and no sword. I Parted ways with him soon after, he headed further west , as I headed in the opposite direction. I haven't seen him since."

"Owwww… My face hurts a lot….." came a voice.

The three looked down to see Maga regaining his-self.

"what time is it?" He asked with his blackened eyes still closed.

"Late, you've been out of it for hours." Dante said.

"What was the last thing you remember?"

"Some lady in green came out of the forest, and I heard something make a noise by the camp. She knocked the wind out of me, and after that, it's all black." He replied groggily.

"Hey Raine! He's up!" Link hollered.

Raine stopped her continuous argument with mina, and ran over to the group.

"You're alright? Nothing feels broken does it? "She worryingly asked him.

"I feel fine, what happened to the lady in green?" He said as he tried to open his eyelids as painlessly as possible.

"The witch is over there." She said hatefully

"Huh? She's still here?" He said as his eyes finally adjusted , and looked around, to see Talim sitting next to Link.

"Hello, I'm Talim" She said kindly, then pointed behind her "And that is Mina. I feel so sorry for what happened."

"Hey ! Get over here and apologize!"Raine yelled.

"No!" Came a voice from behind everyone.

"Yes!" She yelled back as she stood up

"Oh not again.. "Dante moaned

"I'm sure she's sorry" Talim spoke, " She just refuses to show it."

"Well, I accept her apology" Maga said kindly as he plopped back down on the cot.

* * *

**WHOOOH! This one was tough to write, I made SEVERAL different versions of this until I could pick the two soul characters the group meets. At first it was going to be Yun Sung, supposedly trailing Link, but then that doesn't really seem like something he would do, beside's he can be a douche . And then theres all the other different specatations of what happens in later chapters and yadda yadda. So I chose Mina and Talim, Since they traveled together in their biographies during the period in SC3 and SC4, plus they have that kind of presence the group's going to need. But MAAAAN it was hard to make the dailouge and actions. I even researched further into what their personalities were, you know, the whole nine. On another note,**

**I'd like to thank XT-421, for allowing me to use his stories as a back story for Link. I couldn't think of one, so then I started checking the LoZ Fics on this site for a little inspiration, when I came across his two stories,**

"**The Curse of Immortality" and "The Blessing of Life"( The sequel to The Curse of Immortality). It was very enjoyable to read, and a very captivating story.. I suggest you read those two stories by him if you want to learn more about Link. And while your at it, read his other stories as well, all of them are very detailed, and can go very deep. And once again, Thanks XT-421. **

**I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter of HToSaS as much as I did writing it down.**


	6. ch 6:Remembering the past, Cold Night

**This is getting cumbersome, but I have to tell you that I don't own Soul caliber, OR Legend of Zelda. BTW, WHY IS it called The Legend of Zelda? Why not the Legend of Link? Well, I guess Legend of Zelda IS more catchier… and the acronym LOZ works a lot better then LOL, because then that would get confusing to computer talkers and texters EVERYWHERE!**

* * *

"Where am I ?" Echoed a voice.

"Where I want you to be, human."

Sweat started to pour down his face, as he held his weapon in defense.

"Who's there?" He yelled, only to be answered by a glow of purple and maniacal laughter.

"Your worst nightmare…."

Dante gasped for air as he shot straight up.

"Only a dream.." He assured himself.

"What the hell was that?" He thought to himself quietly. He slowly looked around the campsite and sighed. Everyone else was sound asleep in their own peaceful dreams. Talim and Raine slept with a smile, and Mina with a perky grin. Dante could only imagine what she could be thinking of. Maga lay curled up next to him, and Link lay by himself,

"I don't wanna get up right now… I'll wait for everyone else to wake up I guess…" He said with a sigh as he roll onto his side.

* * *

Morning greeted an achy Maga, much sooner then he had hoped.

"Oww…. That lady can really put the hurt on someone" He said quietly as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"I should get everyone up…. " He said with a smile.

" But who's going to be first?" he asked himself with a bit more alacrity.

His eye's searched the party of travelers, as if debating who'd be less offended of themselves being shaken awake.

"Not Dante… he'll definitely hurt me. And no way in hell am I going to wake up that lady in green….

Let's see…. Who's left.."

Raine and Talim shared a cot, and Maga didn't want to disturb the two, who were happily asleep.

His eyes turned to link.

"We'll it's your lucky day pal." He whispered as he crept over to the sleeping Hylian.

Maga was close to Placing his hands on Link's arms, when suddenly…

"Don't even think about it." Link said as he opened an eye, startling Maga.

"Ahh!" He jumped back and fell down on his rear and started laughing.

"What's so funny? You woke me up loud mouth." Dante grunted as he sat up slowly .

"Oh, sorry Brother.. Didn't mean to wake you up so early." Maga said

"What ever… It's best if we get a move on anyways.." He grunted as he stood up, stretching.

After everyone was awake and refreshed, they packed up their cots, Hopped onto their horses, and began their travels again, but with a larger party.

"Thank you for letting us accompany you. Even after what I did…" Mina said embarrassed.

"It's no problem, besides were heading in the same direction." Maga said as they all continued East.

"Why are you going to Athens anyways?" Asked Dante.

"Because The wind told me too." Said Talim.

"And how did it do that?" Maga asked sarcastically.

"It just did!" Talim shot. "I am a Priestess of the wind gods, I can communicate with the wind. And it told me to go to Athens!"

"Whoa, don't go nuts! I didn't mean to offend you.." Maga said

"Apology accepted" She added in a nicer tone

Mina Leaned closer to Maga and whispered to him.

"Don't worry, she'll get like that when someone sounds disrespectful to her religion."

"Thanks for the heads up.." He whispered back sarcastically.

"What are you two whispering about?" Raine asked.

"Nothing!" Mina piped as she resumed her normal posture.

Raine raised an eyebrow in suspicion. She leaned forward and closed her eyes, as she lay her head on Maga's back.

Maga didn't mind, all he cared about was how much his stomach still ached.

Mina whispered something inaudible to Link and he just smiled and nodded.

"How much further do you think we have to go?"Maga asked

"Not much longer, We should reach it today." Dante said.

As the day neared its end, a beautiful city could be seen in the distance, full of night life, and markets. Large buildings could be seen atop a hill, with large fires lit through it.

"That's the Temple to the god Hephaestus," Dante pointed out. Then his eyes lit up like the stars

"And That means there's and inn!" He yelled happily.

"Which means sweet , sweet, alcohol!" He added.

"Oh boy…" Maga said in a tedious tone.

"Oh boy is right! Let's go!" Mina giggled

* * *

They entered the awesome city, to be greeted by market sellers.

"Fresh fruit!"

"Beautiful dresses for beautiful women!"

"Don't travel unprotected! Buy your armor and weapons here!"

"This place is amazing!" Raine shouted

"Yeah!" Maga added.

"It's not all that special…" Dante said as he was keeping an eye out for somewhere to drink.

" What's that?" Said Talim as they all came to a halt in front of a large circle of people.

" I don't know, it looks like there's a fight going on." Link added.

"Is there no one here who can test my abilities?" Yelled an unknown voice from within the circle.

The group neared the small area and saw a samurai in the center, standing victoriously over 5 people.

"Let's go until we get caught into any trouble.." Said Mina.

Everyone in the group agreed as they walked down the Market place in search of a place to stay.

"There!" Raine said as she pointed in front of her.

The group looked at the inn that Raine had pointed to, and decided to go and stay the night there.

* * *

"Well, it looks like that were going to have to pair up and share rooms…" Said Dante as he held three separate keys.

"Aww, I was hoping for my own room.." Mina said in a pouty voice.

"Well who's sleeping with who?" Asked Maga.

"Lets draw straws," Said Link.

"The two biggest straws get's the first room , and the next two get the second, and so on."He explained.

"Okay, sounds reasonable enough." Maga said.

The group drew straws and matched up to who were sleeping in the same rooms.

Dante and Mina got the two largest Straws, Raine and Maga got the second biggest straws, and Talim and Link had gotten the smallest.

"Okay then, we'll meet in the main room tomorrow, but first, I need a drink." Dante said as he walked off to the bar of the inn.

"I think I'll join him." Stated Mina as she ran to catch up to Dante.

"Are you going Maga?" Asked Talim

"No way, I wont drink when Dante does, He can get a tad aggressive at times… someone need's to be able to watch him. Besides, I only drink on special occasions"

"That would be a good reason I suppose." Talim said.

"well I think I'm going to go to bed.." Maga said with a yawn.

"Okay then" Said Raine, " Want to hang out for a while Talim?"

"Sure , I've been wanting to talk with someone other then Mina."

"I don't blame you, especially with that thick head of hers." Raine said

"What about you link?" Talim asked.

Link leaned back against a wall and shrugged

"Okay then!" Raine said as she ran down the hallway pulling Talim with her.

Maga entered his room and sighed. The room wasn't half bad. It had a window, with one shackled up piece of wood covering half of it. There was only one bed with a large straw sack mattress and thin sheets for a blanket. He took his boots off and laid his sword next to the door, making sure it didn't fall or get in Raine's way when she came in. He chose the far side of the bed, closest to the window, and laid down.

"This is so much more comfortable then the ground… " He said as he let out a relaxing sigh. This wasn't the first time Sharing a room with Raine for him. After his parents died, Dante went into a drunken binge, trying to drink away the pain. Dante had gotten angry with Maga for small things , and locked him out of the house. When this happened, Maga would always come to Raine's home and knock on her window and wake her up…

* * *

Night had fallen the village for some time now when suddenly….

"Get the hell out!" Yelled a 15 year old Dante as he slammed the front door in Maga's face, followed by a click from the lock.

"Jeez Dante! I didn't mean for you to trip on those boots!" Maga yelled as he banged his fist against the door.

After many minutes of painful slams against the door, Maga gave up on trying to get back in, and made his way down the road towards his Friend Raine's house.

" He's such an asshole…." Maga said with tears in his eyes, " He goes out, drinking the nasty stuff every night, and comes home as the meanest person in the world.."

He slowly reached Raine's house and snuck around to her window on the side of the house. He knocked on the window sill until he heard a faint whisper come from inside.

"Who's there?" Said a very tired Raine

"It's Maga…. Again….." He replied

"Locked out again?" she asked as she rub the sleep from her eyes.

"Kinda…"

"What for this time?"

"He tripped on my boots when came through the door." Maga said sadly

"Well, don't just stand out there… come on in." Raine said quietly

"Thanks.." Maga replied to his friend.

"No problem, I'd do anything for you" She said as Maga climbed through the window as quietly as he could. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked

"I'd rather not…"

"You can't just bottle up your emotions like that Maga…."

"Yes I can…"

A few moments of an awkward silence had passed.

"It's easier to talk to a friend about it." She said.

Tears started to swell up in Maga's eyes, making them look real glassy.

"He thinks he's the only one who's sad about it.." He cried faintly " I loved my parents just as much as he did.. he thinks he is the only one who hurts.. but I hurt too…"

Raine slowly made her way to the emotionally hurt Maga and embraced him in a compassionate hug as he silently cry. After Maga had finished his tears of pain he wiped his face with his forearm.

"Why do you put up with it, with him acting like this too you?" she asked him remorsefully after he calmed down.

" I have too." He sniffed.

"Why do you have too?"

"He's my brother, he's the only family I have left…" Maga whispered.

"Yea… I know… "Raine said quietly.

"Come on.." She beckoned to him " Let's get some sleep. I want to go fishing tomorrow, and

I order you to come with me." She said , trying to light up the mood.

Maga laughed a little at the new game he and Raine began playing not to long ago.

"As you wish your highness.." He said as he gave a clumsy bow with a smile.

"Hey Raine? Thanks for listening…"

"No problem.."She replied.

"See? Talking helps…" Raine's voice echoed….

* * *

"What'll you be having tonight sir?" the bartender asked a new paying customer.

He was wearing red samurai armor, his hair was black and tied back, and he looked like he has seen many battles in his time.

"Got saki?" He asked.

"Just received a shipment of it today." The bartender said as he motioned a waitress for a glass.

" I'll have a bottle of it then." Said the man.

"A whole bottle? Well what ever you say.." The bartender said as he went to the back room to retrieve the saki.

Just then, two new people entered the room.

A young woman wearing a revealing green dress, and a young man wearing a brown leather vest.

They were talking as they took a seat at a table behind the man.

A barmaid came to them to ask their orders.

" What's the strongest you've got?" Said the man

"We just received a shipment of saki this evening." She replied.

"I'll have that." He said.

"And you?" She asked the woman in green.

"I hear the grape wine here is amazing. I'd like some of that." She said politely.

"Okay then, I'll be right back."

The bartender came back from the liquor room with the Samurai's bottle of saki and placed it in front of him.

"That'd be seven silver pieces."

"That's a bit expensive" Said the samurai.

"Well, we're not in Japan, it takes a bit of money to ship this here." Said the bartender in an agitated tone.

"Hmph, fine then." The samurai said as he dug into his sleeve pocket and slammed seven pieces of silver on the table and took the bottle.

* * *

"I hope they have something strong here." Dante said to Mina as the two headed down to the bar of the inn, "I need to catch up on those lost days"

"I believe ya, I think I'm going to try out the grape wine. It's supposed to be real good here in Athens."

"Wine is horribly disgusting.." Dante said.

"Says you." She replied quickly

The two entered the bar and found a table to sit it.

"That guy looks crazy.." Mina said as she pointed to a stranger in red armor.

"He's definitely got an odd vibe to him." Dante said as a waitress came to the table.

"May I take your orders?" She asked politely.

" What's the strongest you've got?" asked Dante

"We just received a shipment of saki this evening." She replied.

"I'll have that."

"And you?" She asked Mina.

"I hear the grape wine here is amazing. I'd like some of that." She said politely.

"Okay then, I'll be right back."

The Man in red slammed onto the table, making both Mina and Dante alert to his aggressiveness, and took the bottle of liquor and drank it in large gulps at a time.

The waitress came back to the two with glasses and bottles of alcohol.

"Thank you" Mina said kindly as the maid handed her a glass and began to pour her wine into it.

After the waitress finished with Mina, she began to give Dante his glass when he just shook his head at her.

"Just leave me the bottle, I don't plan on using the glass." He said.

The maid looked at him with seriousness in her eyes.

Dante just looked back and took the bottle of saki from her. After uncorking it, he took a quick swig of it.

"Ahem.." The waitress cleared her throat, " That'll be 12 pieces of silver please."

"That's a bit much isn't it?" Mina asked. A slight chuckle came from the man in red.

"It's okay Mina, I got us covered." Dante said as he reached into his pockets in search of some money.

After a moment of searching, he finally found some silver.

"Okay… ten.. eleven…. And twelve." He said as he slowly counted the pieces of silver and handed them to the waitress.

"Thank you sir." The waitress said as she took the money from Dante.

Dante took another drink from his saki and slightly shivered at it's burning sensation crept down his body, slightly providing his innards with an odd feeling of warmth.

"So Dante, " Mina said from across the table, "When did you start drinking?"

Dante looked down at the table for a moment and slowly looked up at Mina

"I started at an early age…" He said.

"Why did you start so early?" Mina asked curiously.

"I uh… Well…" He said as he tried to choose his words wisely " Something happened and one thing led to another…" He said with a hint of pain in his voice.

"What happened?" Mina asked, even more curious then before.

" Some people should just mind their own business." Dante snapped at her.

Mina was taken aback by this and slowly sipped on her wine.

"I'm sorry for poking…." She whispered.

Dante sighed and relaxed a bit.

"No.. I'm sorry… I shouldn't react like that…" Dante said with a frown.

"I started drinking when my family were involved in a massacre that happened about four years ago…" He began.

Mina sat quietly, paying close attention to the saddened Dante.

"A group of people came into our village one day and demanded that everyone give up everything with value to them.. After being denied their demands, their leader, a young blonde headed man with a sword as large as mine and Maga's, stepped forward and began making threats…. My friend Turlon, his father stepped forward and told the group to leave." Dante said and took in a deep sigh, as though he were reliving everything that happened that day.

"Their leader became agitated and killed his father on the spot…"

Mina let out a gasp

"The men of our village retaliated, started a very gruesome battle in the center of the village… It lasted for a very long time. The leader had slaughtered more people then everyone.. "

"I'm so sorry…." Mina said with a small amount of tears in her eyes.

"He made his way to me and Maga, but our parents stood in his way…. " He said.

"He killed them…. He took our valuables, and he left with his group of bandits….." He let out a guttering heave , " I just stood there and watched….. My parents were killed…. And I just watched!" He said as he felt an unending pain well up inside.

" Dante…. " Mina said with tears in her eyes, " I'm so sorry…" She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Now you know…." Dante said as he drank more of his strong alcohol.

"I shouldn't have asked…."Mina said.

"Why did I have to ask!" Mina shouted in her mind, " Leave it to me to make a grown man almost break down because I HAD to know something about him!"

The man in red stood up and walked to Dante. He gazed down at him and Dante looked back up at him.

"What do you want?" Dante asked hatefully.

The man handed Dante his half empty bottle of Saki and spoke only a few words to him.

"You sound like you need this more then me." Was all he said

"I don't need your pity." Dante hissed at him.

The man in red just smirked and left.

Mina finished her wine and stood up.

" Come on, let's go…" She said solemnly. " We don't want to stay too late, we have a lot of information to gather tomorrow."

Dante Drank more of his saki and nodded.

He stood up and corked both of the bottles of alcohol.

"Your going to keep the other bottle?" Mina asked with disgust.

" Why let a bottle of saki go to waste?" Dante said with a grin.

"I'll never truly understand men…" Mina sighed.

The two companions left down the hallway and made their way into their room.

"Well," Mina said as she hurriedly fell down onto the bed " You get the floor!"

"What?" Dante exclaimed " Why should you get the whole bed and I get the floor? There's more then enough room for two. Hell, there's enough room for three or four people!"

"Because I am NOT sharing a bed with anyone tonight" She said with glee.

"Fine! Whatever! I'll sleep on the floor then!" He huffed, "But the least you could do is give me a few blankets and a few pillows."

" I guess…." Mina said.

She Balled up a blanket with a few pillows inside of it and threw it at Dante, knocking him off balance.

"Be careful!" He snapped.

Mina's only reaction was to start laughing and giggling at Dante.

"Stop your annoying banter and just go to sleep." Dante said while he made his cot on the floor.

"oh alright…" Mina said.

After a few moments of getting situated, Dante blew out all but one lantern, allowing a little light to see at night in case of intruders.

"Well, goodnight.." Mina said with a yawn.

"Whatever.." Dante said as he laid down on his uncomfortable cot.

Dante closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but Mina kept rustling around and making noises in the bed.

Dante let out a quiet sigh…. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Why can't I go to sleep?" Mina asked herself. "Is it because of the wine? It's got to be, it probably has me all excited and stuff… Or maybe it was that samurai in the bar? He looked real familiar.. but where did I see him before? Was it the center of the market? Yea that's it! He was that guy who was fighting… no…. That can't be it.." She tossed and turned until she finally decided to just lye on her back and sprawl out," Or maybe it's Dante…. There's something about him…. I'm not sure what.."

With that, she slowly drifted to sleep, pondering about why she has been so restless recently…

* * *

"So Talim, You're a priestess?" Raine asked Talim. They were in a nice restaurant next to the inn waiting on their orders of vegetable soups. It's wasn't too big, and had a beautiful environment about it. People smiled to each other, laughed and talked about what their day had brought them, and even couples were having romantic dinners. Talim Nodded to Raine as her answer to the question.

"But you look so young! Aren't priestesses supposed to be old and such?" She asked curiously

"Not necessarily, I was born into being a priestess."

"How old are you anyways? You look like your thirteen years old." Raine asked.

"I'm not thirteen!" Talim said looking flustered, " I happen to be fifteen years old!"

"I'm sorry, you don't need to act all crazy about it."Raine said

"I'm sorry… It's just that Mina always treats me like I'm a little baby, I just get sick of it all…." Talim said.

"It's okay, Even the kindest people need to take their anger out on something." Raine said kindly.

"But I'm not supposed to be angry at anything! I'm a priestess."

"So? Your human aren't you?"

"Well.. yes…."

"Then it's okay!" Raine piped.

"But.." Talim tried to interject

"No 'buts'." Raine said.

"Well, okay…"

"If you ever want to talk about anything about what's making you angry or sad or whatever, I'll listen." Raine said kindly, "Talking always helps."

"Yes, I know. Thank you" Talim said.

Just then, Raine's stomach growled, leaving her with an embarrassed look on her face.

"How long does it take for a waiter to get here?" Raine asked.

"I'm not sure, maybe we should go back to the inn and get something from our bags? Besides , It's getting late out. I don't want to be anywhere out when it's dark. Especially here." Talim suggested.

"I suppose your right.." Raine said with disappointment, "Let's go, we can comeback in the morning, what do ya say?"

"That sounds great! We can all come back here tomorrow morning!" Talim said.

They both stood up and briskly walked out the door, knowing it was getting pretty dark out.

* * *

Link watched as the group went their own way, and just stood in his spot and nodded off.

"I miss home…." He thought to himself.

He didn't like this world as much as he liked his. Albeit, he has met some kind friends along the way.

"I have been traveling for so long…. And there's no way for me to tell everyone I'm fine….everyone must be worried sick for me… Saria and Lilly most of all…. Goddesses.. Lilly was so small when I had to leave, It's been almost a year.… I wonder how much she's grown… I wonder if They're both alright? Yes, they must be fine, I did leave them with Cheryl and Xavier while I'm gone…"  
He let out a sigh and walked to The room he and Talim were to stay in that night . As he took in his surroundings, he closed the door, leaving it unlocked for Talim, and undid his sword buckle and took his shield off his back and set them down in a corner.

He sat down next to his weapons and pulled out the blue box holding the fragments of the evil sword.

"How can this be so evil? It's nothing but pieces.." He pondered quietly.

"It's broken, so why isn't it destroyed?" He wondered out loud.

He heard the door of the room next to him open and close.

"There's Dante and Mina, back from their time alone…"

He could hear Dante and Mina talking when he heard Dante ask Mina something, making her laugh and giggle..

"I'll just tune them out.." He said and focused more on the objects of mystery he held in his hand.

"I don't want anything to do with these things anymore… I just want to go home to my family.." He said as he nodded off to sleep.

* * *

"Well, goodnight Talim." Raine said to her new friend as she entered her room.

Maga was fast asleep on the large bed when Raine came in. She looked around and started to quietly take her boots off and the small sword from her side. She also took off the pack and searched through it for clothing to change into. After searching for a few moments, she finally decided on some white slops and a comfortably loose brown cloth shirt she got from Maga and Dante as a birthday present last year.

She smiled as her memories flooded back to that day.

But her memories were cut short when she heard Maga start to shift awake from his sleep.

Maga was facing her hen he opened his eyes slowly.

"Hey…" He said quietly as he sat up " Have fun with Talim?" he added with a yawn and a stretch

"Yes, I did." She quietly replied.

"Well that's good" He said. " I wonder where my shirt is.."

Maga was now very awake from his snooze and brought his legs around to hang off the side of the bed.

Raine gawked quietly at his slight bruises left from Mina's overreaction two days ago. While Raine was having her secretive thoughts of Maga, he had found his shirt and slipped it on, then he looked at Raine, who was just spaced out and staring at him. He turned his head around, trying to see what she was looking at.

Not finding anything of interest, he reverted his attention back to Raine, who was still staring.

"What?" He asked.

Raine snapped back into reality, " Huh?"

"What did you see?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about something." She replied, with a slight blush in her face.

"oh, okay. Well, I guess your going to sleep on the bed tonight. I'll go ahead and sleep on the floor." He said.

No, you don't have to do that." She said quickly. "There's more then enough room for the both of us, heck, there's enough room for three people to sleep there comfortably. Besides," She added, " It wouldn't be fair to you, you've been sleeping on the ground as much as I have, if not more than me.

"Well, if you insist.." Maga said as he began to lay back down in his spot.

"I'm going to go change first.." Raine said, then her eyebrow coked up as she looked around the room again. " Where's the bathroom?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, I never really got around to looking for one."

"I don't think there is one…. Maybe that's why the rooms were so cheap…." She said. Then she looked at Maga. Maga just looked back at her. She made a face that said something like 'Well?'. Maga didn't get the message.

_Ugh.. Sometimes he can be so clueless.._Raine thought

"Well?" She said

"Well what?

"Aren't you going to turn around so I can change?"

"Huh? Your changing in here?"

"Well, there's no where else to change, so yes, I am changing my cloths in here." She said bluntly.

Maga kind of felt a panic go through him.

_What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? _He thought very quickly in his mind.

_Oh! That's right! I'll just turn around!_

So he plopped down on the bed and turned his whole body away from Raine. He heard Raine sigh and begin with her cloths. Then his eyes widened. Somehow, he saw Raine in front of him, half naked. He could see her chest, more then he wanted to see of her.

Raine pulled off the green colored cloth shirt she had worn and the now very dirty breaches she had worn for the past few days.

_Man, it's going to feel great to get out of these cloths… I just hope Maga isn't looking… It'll be embarrassing for me to be seen half naked. _She thought to herself as she quickly put her clean cloths on.

"Okay, you can turn back around." She said.

"Alright." Maga said.

"So Maga, " Raine said as she slowly got into the bed, " What were you and Mina whispering about earlier today?"

"Nothing, she was just telling me about how Talim can get a little flustered about her religion or something like that."

"Oh, that's good…" She said, "You're probably going to laugh at this, but I thought you two were talking about me…."

"What do you mean? Like in a hurtful way?" He asked concerned, now laying on his side, facing Raine.

Raine had also turned on her side to face Maga.

"Well…. Kind of…" She said embarrassingly.

"Raine." Maga said in a serious voice. "First of all, I wouldn't laugh at you, just with you. Secondly, I would NEVER talk about you like that. What kind of friend would I be if I did that?"

"I guess your right.."

"Guess?"

"I mean, yes, your right."

"That's better." Maga said with a smile.

"But if someone were to talk about me like that, you'd tell me right?"

"I would set them straight, and then I'll tell you." Maga replied.

"That's good…" Raine said with a shiver.

"It's cold in here isn't it?" She said whilst shaking a bit.

"Yea, it sure did, didn't it…." Maga said, feeling the cold creep it's way all up and down his spine.

"I don't think I can sleep in this cold…" Raine said after a few moments.

Raine scooted closer to Maga and crawled under his thin blanket and threw hers on top of it.

"What are you doing?" Maga asked, his face turning a bit red from the awkwardness of it all.

"Not freezing." She stated sternly.

"I don't get it."

"Our body warmth combined can keep us warm."

"Oh." Was all he could say. He'd never really experienced the cold before, so naturally he wouldn't have a clue about what to do.

"You know Maga, sometimes, I wonder how you can be so clueless sometimes." She said, still facing Maga.

"Well, I guess where there's strength, there's stupidity." He said wisely.

Raine laughed for a little while at Maga's little wisecrack.

"You know Maga, I'm happy you're my friend.." She said quietly.

"I am too…." He said as they both fell into a peaceful sleep…

* * *

**Well, there it is! ALL 10 PAGES! **

**The idea to this chapter was actually given to me by my writing teacher. I went to him to see if there were any improvements needed. "Well" He says, " It's very ,very good. The grammar is good, sure there's a few punctuation problems here and there, and a few unnecessary caps. (He mean capitalized words) but other then that, its pretty good." **

**Then he said " My only question is this. Who are Maga and Dante? Who's Raine? You told about all the other characters, but not about your main protagonists! You say Dante has a drinking Problem, but why? How far back does everyone's relationships with each other go? ( He means Dante, Maga, Raine, Turlon and such.)"**

**So here I am with a ten page chapter explaining all sorts of things. Characters opening up, others talking to themselves, and even the best personality of all, cluelessness of said characters.**

**anyways, if you didn't understand what Link was talking about, then that means you STILL HAVEN"T CHECKED OUT 'The Curse of Immortality' and 'The Blessing of Life' by XT-421 YET!**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And review it too! Your comments really help inspire me to keep writing!**

**BTW, Yes, Maga and Raine had one of those awkward best friend things between a guy and a girl that makes them want their relationship to progress into something of a couple. You know, cliché things that happen in these types of stories. And for once, I'm kinda happy not having to be completely original! Even if sometimes it isn't as original**

**Here's another thing. From now on, I'm going to write my chapters 3 stories ahead so it'll be awhile before my next update! Maybe about 4 or 5 days.**


	7. Chapter 7: Wake up call, One Condition

**Ahhh…. Spring break is over, as I write this. I had a great time playing parties with my band, and not only that, I finally invited my girlfriend to see us play. The look on her face while I strip teased to the song Feed my Frankenstein by Alice Cooper… PRICELESS!**

**But anyway I have the disclaimer to say. So uhh, disclaimer. Ok here we go. Gotta get it out Jess, no matter what. Eye of the tiger, eye of the tiger.**

**I don't own Soul caliber or Legend of Zelda although it'd cool if I did. Cuz then I would Soooooooooo whore out LOZ merch like crazy. Just like Sharron Osbourne whores out Ozzy. **

**Damnnnn , Low blow.**

* * *

_So chilly out…. But I'm still pretty warm, I guess. I wonder if I should get up… Yeah, I guess so._

_Hmmm? Something's wrapped around my waist? Is it my clothes? No, it's a little heavier then that._

_Did it just move a bit? Wait… It's an arm? Not mine, then who's?_

Raine's eyes fluttered open, not realizing whose arm was around her. She peeked under the covers of the bed and followed the arm up to someone's semi toned body. She was still a little groggy so she couldn't think of what she should do about the situation.

_Who's that?_

She turned slightly to see it was her best friend, Maga. She breathed in a gasp of surprise and then quietly let it out.

_This is kind of awkward…. But it feels so right. Well, I guess I can't get up yet._

Some foot steps could be heard out side, and a bit of whispering from two familiar voices.

_I don't care who that is… I'll just go back to sleep' _She thought as she turned to face the still asleep Maga. He had a small smile on his face, making her smile a bit as well. She closed her eyes and slowly fell back to sleep.

* * *

"Okay, here's the plan, we'll get a few pales of water, and then dump it on the both of them." Dante said Mina began to giggle at the devious idea Dante had pitched to her. It's not everyday she got to rudely wake someone up, especially in this way.

The two went down stairs and got some pales full of ice cold water. They quietly made their way back up to Maga's and Raine's room and stopped in front of the door.

"Okay, when I give you the signal, splash water on Raine. I'll get Maga."

"This is going to be fun" She said as she quivered with excitement.

The two opened the door as quietly as possible, and both saw Maga's arm wrapped around Raine as the two slept.

"Awwww, how cute." Mina whispered. Dante made a movement to get Mina's attention, which he did successfully. Dante gave the signal and the two dump the pales of cold water onto their two sleeping companions.

* * *

_Holy shit that's cold! What the hell? Water?_

"Whoa! What the…?" Maga shouted in bewilderment as he shot up out of the bed.

Dante and Mina started laughing.

"Got you back!" Dante said as he laughed so hard his stomach started hurting.

"What the hell?!" Raine jumped out the bed.

"You bastard!" Maga managed to say through his own laughter. Maga fell to the floor laughing until he couldn't breathe.

"What happened? Did you throw water on us!?"Raine shouted as she began to laugh.

"Revenge is so sweet!" Dante said laughing.

"I just wanted to throw water on you!" Mina added. _**(A/N: **__**I don't normally do this, but can someone say super bitch?)**_

"Man, I'm soaked." Maga said with a smile still laughing.

"Tell me about it." Raine said looking at the water dripping from her clothes.

"Well, now that you two lovebirds are awake," Mina said, "Dante and I are going to see if Link and Talim woke up yet." Mina said as she left the room.

Raine slightly blushed at Mina's 'lovebird' comment.

Dante followed Mina and laughed the whole way out.

After they had left Maga and Raine to change, Maga turned to Raine with a smile.

"I guess we'll have to make a personal note not to throw water on Dante anymore." He chuckled.

"Yea.." Raine added.

For a moment, the two just stood there, looking at each other's wet clothes.

"Wait, what did Mina mean by lovebirds?" Maga asked.

_'She wasn't all that wrong about that comment ' _Raine thought

"You got me.." she said with a blush.

"Well, I guess we better change…" Maga said embarrassingly as he went to his pack and gathered out a few random clothes.

Raine nodded in agreement and looked for a set of clothes as well.

"Wait a sec, where are we going to change?" Raine asked.

"Well, I was just going to change here." Maga said after thinking for a moment.

"Then where will I change?"

"I don't know, I guess you can change in here as well."

Raine started to blush wildly now.

"Are you okay?" Maga asked.

_What am I going to do? I can't just change in front of Maga! But then again, I kind of did last night….No! that's not the same as now! I didn't have to get completely naked last night! But now look at me, Soaked down to the bone! I know! I'll make him turn around and wait for me to get dressed! But what about him? He's just as wet as I am, He'd have to get naked too…..hmmm.. I wouldn't mind… No, I'll just make him turn around and then I'll just turn around and change too._

"Raine?" Maga said with concern, "Are you feeling okay?"

Raine snapped back into reality and looked at Maga, whose shirt was already off. This only made her blush even more. Then there was a thud in the room next to them.

"Turn around!" Raine blurted out.

"Okay, don't need to act weird about it." He said as he turned around.

_Goodness….. He looks so amazing… all wet like that... I just want to go and traced my finger all up and down.. WHAT! WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!! IT'S MAGA IM THINKING ABOUT HERE! _She thought wildly as she turned around too and began to take her own clothing off.

_This is weird… Maybe I should just peek around.. Just to make sure he's not… OH MY GODS!!!!_

Raine thought as she looked over her shoulder to see a completely naked Maga facing away from her.

_He looks so amazing! _

She thought, almost forgetting she was completely naked. She could feel her ears start to burn up, and her head feel lighter.

_What's going on with me!_ She thought as she put on a dry pair of panties and slipped her bra on.

She finished putting her clothes on very quickly.

"You done changing yet?" She asked while still facing her back against Maga.

"Just finished." Maga said.

"Okay, then I guess we can turn around." She said while turning.

Maga was dressed in a new pair of breaches and a black cloth shirt. His hair was still a little wet.

"Okay, we should get going…" She said.

_Why am I thinking like this all of a sudden?' _She thought to herself as the two made their way out of the room.

* * *

"Whoa! What the…!" Was what woke him up.

Link snapped his eyes open at the abrupt sound coming from the next room over.

He silently looked around with a small hint of alarm, slowly taking his surroundings in.

_Okay.. I'm in the room we rented last night… I fell asleep on the floor… wait, when did I get this blanket on me?_ He asked himself in thought.

He had more than just a blanket. There was a pillow behind his head too.

His eyes shifted towards a lump in the bed.

_Talim.. She must have put these here…_

Links smiled as he thought of the kindness of the girl when he heard a man and a woman laughing and begin to open the door to their appointed room.

Link became alarmed at this and grabbed his sword and shield; luckily it was dark because the window shutters were closed. Silently, he waited for the intruders to come in. First walked in the man, Link lunged forward and talked him to the ground, making a large thud. Talim shot up and fell out of the bed.

"Easy! Don't need to get all crazy!" Yelled a familiar voice.

Talim ran to the window and opened up the shutters, letting light come into the dark room.

"Dante?" Link said and quickly got off of him.

"Yes I'm Dante. What's up?" Dante asked in a harsh bewildered tone.

"You startled me… that's all." Link said embarrassed. "Sorry..." He added.

"It's okay man… Such is expected from an always battle ready elf." Dante replied, giving link a hearty pat on the back.

"Well, I'm happy I didn't come in first." Mina laughed. She was still in the doorway when Dante was tackled to the ground.

"Why are you laughing so much??" Talim asked.

"We just played a little prank on Maga and Raine." Dante chuckled.

"Like what?" Link asked. He always looked forward to something like pranks.

"Remember when they splashed water on me back home? Well, I got them back for it, with the help of Mina of course." He added quickly

Link started to laugh and Talim just looked confusingly at the two.

"Revenge is very wrong." Talim said sternly "What if you could have hurt them? What if they get sick from the cold water?"

"Talim, stop worrying, It was just a little prank."Dante assured her.

"But What about what they think about it?" She began to argue.

"They were laughing about it" Mina said.

"But what if they weren't?"

"Then I guess Mina and I would have hell to pay." Dante said shrugging.

"You should stop worrying Talim." Link said.

"They're family, so they gladly accept pranks from each other."

Just then, Raine and Maga walked through the doorway with smiles on their faces.

"You talking about us?" Maga asked.

"Talim's just frustrated at us for playing that prank on you two." Mina said.

"Why?" Raine whispered.

"She can't stand to see people get mistreated." Mina whispered back.

"Okay, everyone, we have stuff to do today. We should go eat and search for any leads." Dante said when he heard a grumble come from Maga. Maga looked around embarrassingly.

"I guess we should go eat first…." Dante said with a sigh.

* * *

The group was in the small restaurant next door to the inn. The same one Raine and Talim had been to the night before. After they received their orders, Maga dove into his food and finished it quickly. Everyone looked at him in bewilderment.

"Did you get to taste it" Mina asked Maga in a sarcastic tone, "I was just wondering because I could have sworn the food didn't even touch your tongue."

"It was awesome! Beats the heck out of eating whatever we find hanging off of bushes or trees."

"You got that right." Said Dante as he finished his food.

Raine nodded in agreement and began to finish her food as well.

The troupe of warriors was eating for about forty-five minutes when they finally received the bill.

Everyone dug into their pockets for the cash to pay off the restaurant when link motioned them to stop.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for it." He said as he pulled out a few jewels from his pouch.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about those things." Maga said.

Mina's eyes lit up at the sight of them, so did Talim's.

"How in the world can you just pay with that?! They're amazing!" Mina nearly shouted.

"Oh that's right…" Raine said. She forgot about how Mina and Talim still don't know very much about the currencies of Link's world. She didn't quite understand it as well.

"I'll tell you two later." Said Dante.

"But that's not important right now." He said as he stood up.

"We have a lot to do today. I think we should split up, you know, to cover more ground." He continued.

"Link and I will go through the slums and see if we can't find any leads there."

"Mina and I can go through the market" Raine said.

"Okay then, Maga, Talim, you two try to go through the upper class section of town."

Maga nodded.

The group left the restaurant, and left in different directions.

"We'll meet back her before sundown." Was the last thing Dante said before everyone was off.

* * *

"Wow! The upper class habits here are amazing!" Talim exclaimed.

"I know..." Maga replied in awe.

The roads were made with laid cobblestone, set perfectly align with each individual rock before it. The homes and other buildings were made of burnished brick, with canopies hovering above almost every home. In some cases, there were even balconies. This part of Athens was an amazing sight to see, with its every aspect molded to perfection.

"Where should we start?" Talim asked Maga.

"I… I don't know. I guess we should just start by asking people questions."

The two walked into a crowd of nobles, whom were minding their own business, and blurted out several questions about the demon sword.

"Have you heard of an evil sword in Athens?" Maga asked a well dressed man.

"No I haven't, but I have heard some weird things about the blacksmith's children."

"Oh really? Well were can we find the smithy?" He asked.

"He is more then likely in the market selling his wares now."

"Well, that's great, were going to have to walk all the way back to the market!" Maga bellowed in frustration.

"It's okay Maga, walking is a way to purify your soul." Talim said.

"Well, if you say so." Maga unwillingly agreed.

"But, I think we should just keep looking here, maybe someone here has heard of the sword."

"Okay, I'll keep asking around then." Talim said.

"This finding a lead thing isn't as easy as I had hoped…" Maga said drearily as he once again began his search for something, anything, that can point them in the direction of the evil seed.

* * *

_**(A/N:**__** Okay, just to warn you, this part might get a little corny, only because I don't normally write this type of moment. If it's stupid, then shut the hell up and skim through it.)**_

"Hey Mina…." Raine began.

"What is it kiddo?" Mina said as the two were making their way to the center of the bustling market of purveyors.

"I think I…." She began to trail off.

"You think you what? Hungry or something?"

"No… I think I might like Maga…"

"Who doesn't? He's an okay guy." Mina said with a smile.

"No... I mean... LIKE him" She said putting emphasize on the 'like'.

"Awwww isn't that cute."

"It's not a joke!" Raine said now flustered.

" Oh, I know, young love is a serious thing. What is he, like your first crush or something?"

"I guess….. I mean… oh I don't know!"

"What do you see when you look at him?"

"I see Maga."

"No, that's not what I mean! I mean what do you think when you see him, about his personality."

"Well…. He's funny, he's kind, caring, tall, hand….." She stopped abruptly.

"Handsome?" Mina said, finishing Raines chants of Maga.

Raine blushed a bit.

"It's soooo cute!" Mina said. "You know what you gotta do right?" She continued in a sly manner.

"uhmmmm no." Raine said.

"You got to walk right up to him and give him a bit ole sloppy kiss!" She said and made a smooching noise.

"Huh!? No way! It's Maga! He's like a brother to me!"

"But he's not, is he?" Mina retorted.

"Well… no, but still it's Maga!"

"Well, if you want to talk about big girl things, then we can talk later then. We have to look for some leads." Mina said, suddenly becoming serious.

"Are you implying that I don't know anything?" Raine said, getting frustrated at Mina.

"I'm going that way." Mina said quickly. She quickly walked away in a random direction, leaving Raine alone, in the middle of the market.

"grrr…. Here I am, opening up and asking for some personal advice, and she doesn't take it seriously. Well, I'm better off just riding this through," She said as she thought about last night and this morning. " I'll go ask about the sword in that weapons shop over there." She said as she eyed a small building with weapons displayed in it's window. She made her way through the ever claustrophobic crowd into the building. She looked in awe as she investigated all the blades in the store. There were long swords, short swords, daggers, and rapiers , all along it's walls. This wasn't an ordinary weapons shop either, it had also specialized in armor as well. Raine had also noticed how shields adorned the counter.

"Greetings young lady, welcome to the only weapons trade building in Athens that will sell to both men and women." Said a man behind her.

She flung herself around and nearly jumped through her skin when the man was standing right behind her.

"Ahh!" She yelled, frightening the man as well.

"Whoa! Easy young lady, I didn't mean to startle you." He said in a calming voice.

"Oh.. I'm sorry, I overreacted a bit there." Raine said.

"Oh, it's okay. Is there a specific weapon you'd be looking for?"

"I'm actually looking for some information. I was wondering if you've heard about a certain sword."

"Well, I've heard about a lot of swords, what does it look like?"

"Well, I'm not sure… but it's an epically evil sword." She said.

The man's face went slightly grim and pale.

"Are you okay sir?" Raine said.

"Your looking for it too?" He said " But you've got so much life ahead of you, why would you be going after Soul Edge?"

"Soul Edge? I haven't heard it called by that name yet, but I guess you know what I'm looking for."

"Indeed, I do…. Listen, come back here later, when the crowd has died down. I'll have the closed sign out, but don't worry, I'll be here."

"Umm okay? By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Rothion."

"Well, my name is Raine. I promise I'll be back later, I just have to get my friends."

"Do what you must." He said as he went back into the back room.

"That was weird…." Raine said. It didn't exactly make since to her, but this guy seemed trust worthy.

She hurried out the door, and quickly found Mina talking with some handsome traveler over by a fruit stall.

"So, what's a cute young lady like you doing in the market alone?" He was saying.

"Oh nothing, I'm just searching for some information."

"Hmm like what, may I ask?"

"Oh nothing much, I just was wondering if you've heard of the whereabouts of the Evil Seed." She cooed calmly. The man's eyes widened.

"Your kidding right?"

"What happened to the smooth young man from a second ago?"

"Listen, don't go after that sword, It's a suicide quest." He said

"Oh I know, but that doesn't help me." She pouted.

"Mina!" Said a voice from behind her.

Mina turned around quickly and saw Raine running to her.

"There you are!"

"Who?" The man asked curiously.

"I got some information, but we need to get everyone else first" she said, catching her breath, "who's that?" She asked, pointing towards the man Mina was conversing with.

"He's just some chicken who won't tell me anything about the Evil Seed." She said with a shrug.

"H-Hey! I'm no chicken!" He stuttered.

"Then tell me what you know." Mina said to him.

"Fine! Just to let you know, it kills me sending a pretty thing like you to your death. That thing you seek, it is wielded by a demon in azure armor. His eye's glow as red and evil as fire, and he has a monstrous hand, with a thirst for blood you could never imagine. The last I heard of it, he was far to the west. He only leaves behind carnage and massacre. That's all I know!" The man said.

"Thanks!" Mina said in a gleeful manner and turned towards Raine.

"Now what did you say again?"

"I have information about Soul Edge!"

"Soul wha-?"

"It's what the guy at that weapon shop called it. He wants us to come back later."

"Oh! Well, let's go back to the inn; we'll wait for everyone to get back." She said as they both made their way back uphill towards their destination.

"Talk about crazy..." The man whispered as the two left.

* * *

The poor class of Athens resided in the slums. Many of the people had no education or knowledge enough to work as anything higher then a lowly crops-man. Though well knowledgeable of how to use dirt, not one of them capable of the skill of carpentry, thus the homes of the slums are lazily slapped together matchboxes of wood, being held up by the next. And the reek coming from the loiter and the pest infestation was by far the worst anyone could endure.

The sun was almost beginning to set, and Link and Dante have yet to gather any form of information about Soul Edge. They were tired, and disgusted at the foul stenches that resided in the slums of Athens.

"Ugh!" Dante yelled in frustration, "No one even knows what we're talking about here!"

"Calm down Dante." Link said. "There's no reason to get upset about it. Maybe the other's got some information."

"I suppose you're right. Let's head back. It's getting late…"

"That's a good idea…." Link said

"What's the matter? You seem a little depressed lately."

"I just miss my family. I worry about them everyday.. And I can't stand being away from them for this long.."

"How long has it been?"

"Well, It has been seven months since I left my world for yours. But it seems like an eternity since I've seen them…"

"I can't say that I know how your feeling right now, but I can say that I understand. Look, let's just hurry up and get out of here, the faster we find out if there's anything the others have gathered up, the faster we get this whole thing over with." Dante said, trying to make Link feel a bit less disheartened.

The two finally made their way through the nightmare that was the slums of Athens. As they neared the inn, they spotted their other companions waiting for the two to finally arrive.

* * *

"Where are they?"

"I don't know, they might have just gotten lost."

"Well, they'll just have to hurry up, we have to go meet with Rothion."

"Yeah!"

The sun was ending it's journey across the heavens, and the group were going to soon be greeted by it's faithful companion following it every night. The streets of the market were beginning to die down as shops closed and merchants packed away their goods. Lanterns across the entire city were beginning to flicker on, and light could be seen through windows and flaring it's life behind curtains.

"We could leave a note for them." Raine said.

"Yea right, like that'll work." Retorted Mina.

"I didn't hear you having any idea's Mina!"

"Please stop arguing you two!" Talim pleaded.

"Look, there they are!" Maga said as he pointed down the well traversed road to the market.

"Finally!" Talim sighed.

"Hey! What took so long?" asked Maga as Link and Dante neared the group.

"Oh you know, we wanted to see the sights, maybe go out for a bite to eat and maybe after that go see a play." Dante remarked sarcastically.

"And how did that go?" Maga replied.

"Horrible, what did you guys find out?" Link said.

"Well, Talim and I didn't really get anything out of the snobs in the upper class," Maga said, "But, Raine and Mina got a lead."

"Speaking of which, "Raine butted in "We need to go meet him now."

"What are we waiting for then?" Link asked.

The group, led by Raine, began their trek back to the weapons shop in the middle of the much less active market place.

"Who's the guy we're going to see?" Maga asked Raine.

"He's a blacksmith named Rothion." She replied.

"A blacksmith? One of those rich people from the upper class mentioned something about a blacksmith's children…."

* * *

_Maybe she lost interest in the sword…._ The man thought as he began to close his modest shop.

Rothion was slowly approaching the iron door he had made to keep out the thieves and fumbled for his keys to lock it. Just then a knock came from the door as a group walked in.

"Hey Rothion! I'm sorry we're late, but some of my friends got lost." Said the familiar young lady from earlier today.

"Ah…. I was beginning to wonder why you were late" He replied.

He eyed the massive swords that two of the young warriors had wielded.

_Such horrible craftsmanship, surely the swords will soon break.' _Rothion thought.

"What?" Said the younger of the two.

"Nothing, I was just studying your swords."

"Oh," he said as he pointed his sword straight down, "Like it?"

Rothion only shrugged.

"Well, can you tell us where we could find Soul edge?" Raine asked impatiently.

"No, but I can tell you which direction you could search in. A man came into my shop yesterday. He had fiery red hair an-"

"Yun Sung was here?" Mina blurted out.

"was that his name? He never told me. But anyways, he had come through here from the far west. He was searching for Soul Edge as well, calling it the sword of salvation. He told me that he was looking for some leads to it. He also said he came across some insane girl in green."

"Maybe he was talking about you Mina?" Maga chuckled.

"Why don't you just shut up." Mina said, making a fist at Maga.

"And what else?" Link asked.

"He said she was a servant of Soul Edge, and if he could catch her, then he could find out where soul edge is."

"Why was he in here?" Mina asked.

"To get his sword sharpened."

"Did he happen to say which way he went?" Dante interjected.

"West. To a place called Ostriensburgh. He said that there was a chance it was there again."

"Again? That means it was there before?" Maga asked.

"Apparently. He said it always seems to return there. Why? I do not know."

"Well, we should go now then." Link urged.

"I agree." Dante said.

The group began to inch their way out of the shop when Rothion spoke up again.

"I don't think you should go equipped like you are." He said.

"what do you mean?" Dante turned and asked.

"Firstly, your swords look as if they'll break at any moment." He replied, pointing at Maga and Dante's weapons.

"Secondly, what if any of you were to get hit with an arrow? You've got nothing to deflect their sharp points."

"And your point about all this is?" Maga asked.

"At least let me supply you with new weapons and a little bit of protection." Rothion pleaded.

"Well…." Dante said as he thought for a moment.

"I suppose we should… But how long will this take?"

"Well, I can set you up with chain mail in a few hours…" Rothion said as he pointed to Dante and Maga, "And as for the weapons, I can easily replace theirs, but yours will take at least 2 days each."

"How much will all of this cost?" Mina questioned.

"I have a good feeling about the lot of you. It's free of charge on one condition."

"What?" Dante asked………

* * *

**So? Like? Yes?**

**Lets see…. I got a few things to cover here.**

**Okay first off, I know I said 4 or 5 days, but I meant to say 4 or 5 weeks. So sorry about the delay of this update.**

**Secondly, EASTER!!!!**

**Thirdly, I have to explain another thing. I type these on my Laptop, but I have to put these files onto a flash drive and put them onto my desktop computer. Okay now recently, it doesn't feel like reading the flashdrives, so I have to figure out another way to upload these next chapters.**

**Anyways, Read and Review! (I dislike using the R&R acronym, it's like im too lazy to type it out.)**


	8. Chapter 8:Tournament of Strength

**Partial Marshall, enters my home, Partial Marshall Uses my phone, Partial Marshall Raises my bill, Partial Marshall, The next man I kill.**

**Brutal right? I know, unnecessary, but it's small things like that I create to get into writing mode.**

**Anywho, here's the disclaimer. I don't own Soul Caliber or Legend of Zelda. So Nintendo and Namco, YOU CAN'T SUE!**

**Okay, here's another thing. I have a friend helping me out with writing now, kinda as a co-writer.**

**So there are some part's she'll be writing (It's almost obvious which ones) and I'll be writing some parts as well. This'll probably last for only this chapter but who knows? Because there are parts of it that I want to happen but can't write because it's stuff I don't normally write. Any ways, here it is!**

* * *

Sweat was pouring down his brow as he held his sword ready. His eye's darted left and right as he peered into an onslaught of darkness. He knew he was being followed when he finally overcame his fear and spoke out into the darkness overcoming him.

"Who's there?"

Nothing for moments at a time.

"Who's there! I know your following me!"

Suddenly, a knight in dark purple armor appeared in front of him. But his right arm was far from human.

It was dark brown, like that of a tree, and eyes adorned it and in it's hand; held a gruesome fleshy sword with a single eye in the middle of it.

"I, Who you seek to destroy." Came a voice.

"What do you want?!" The man yelled in question.

"You." Came the same voice, as if out of no where.

"You'll never have me! We'll destroy you!"

"Pathetic hopes from an inferior being." Spoke the knight.

The knight raised the sword and brought it down fiercely. The man barely blocked it , deflecting the possible impalement to the side.

_Dante… Come on. Wake up….. _

The man looked up as if to see a person above him.

"I can't…"

_Wake up! _

"I'm trying.." The knight swung his sword around in a chopping motion in attempt to hack his victim in half.

_Wake up!_

"Here it comes…."

* * *

Dante shot up and threw his fist wildly, making contact with something that felt like a cheek bone.

"Ow! Asshole!" A familiar voice rang.

_What?_

Dante focused his eyes as he took in his surroundings.

He was in a guest room at the blacksmith's house. It was packed tight every night for the last three days that they stayed there because the entire group slept in it. The ladies all got the comfortable, warm bed whilst the guys all got the cold hard floor. He looked around again and saw that Maga was to his side on the ground, rubbing his jaw.

"Why did you hit me?" Maga asked painfully.

"I… I didn't mean to hit you.. I was.. Just dreaming.. that's all." Dante responded groggily.

_It was just a dream… But it seemed so real…'_ Dante thought to himself.

"Well, listen. Everyone is already up and trying on that chain mail stuff that Rothion has. I'm going to go grab a bite to eat. You can come too if you want."

_Who was that purple knight? And was that sword- the demonic sword we've been looking for? Was it talking to me?' _Dante asked himself as a small shiver went down his spine.

"Are you even listening to me?" Maga asked.

Dante snapped back to reality and nodded sleepily.

"I need a drink." He said as he stood up.

"It's a little early for that isn't it?"Maga asked.

"Not alcohol, idiot. Water." Dante shot.

"You don't need to be a jerk."

Dante took in a deep breath to calm down a little.

"I know.. I'm just a little stressed. Look, just go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit."

"Okay." Maga said as he stood up. He turned around and briskly left the room, leaving Dante by himself.

Dante grabbed his sword and also left through the doorway and down the hall. The home was adorned with amazingly crafted shields, and several side wall pillars. Almost every ten feet, there was a potted plant of sorts atop a waist high pedestal. Childish giggling could be heard behind Dante. He turned around to see two small children sneakily following him. They quickly hid themselves behind a potted plant, though they were still very visible to Dante though. Dante smiled to himself.

"I can still see you two." He said aloud.

"Aww shoot." Said the eldest of the two as he stepped out from behind the potted plant, and the younger sibling slowly followed behind him.

"How did you know it was us Mr. Dante?" asked the older one.

"Well Patroklos, It wasn't easy." He mused, "I had to decipher a code in my head, and think really hard about who could be following me. At first I thought it was a monkey, but then I remembered that there are no monkeys in Athens!"

The children began giggling

"Then I thought that maybe a turkey was following me, but then I remembered that turkeys don't giggle like little children. So then I thought 'It must be the children of Rothion the blacksmith who is following me"

"Wow Mr. Dante, that's a lot of thinking!" blurted Pyrrha, the younger sibling.

"I know, and now my head hurts." He said, making a pouty face and rubbing his head.

The children began laughing at Dante's antics.

"Where is your father at?" He asked the children.

"He is in the back room with your friends. They are all trying on some funny clothes made of metal rings." Said Patroklos,

"Thank you very much Patroklos." He said.

Dante began walking in the opposite direction he was heading in, and now was going to the back room, where everyone was.

* * *

"I don't want to wear this…." Talim said. And she had good reason too.

She, Raine, and Mina were all trying on the black chainmail suits that were given to them.

Talim's suit was very large for her petite body. It's top half hung far below her waist, and it's sleeves extended far past her wrists. The bottom piece was so loose that it kept slipping down to her knees, lest she held onto it with her hands.

Mina's suit fit her snuggly, making her womanly curves more visible.

"If you don't want to wear it, then you don't have to." Raine said.

Raine's suit wasn't as snug as Mina's but it fit her well.

"Well, what would Rothion think if I turned down his gift?" Talim queried.

"He'll understand." Raine assured her.

Mina yawned loudly.

"I'm bored, what do you think we should do today?" She asked.

"I don't know, we've already seen the sights, we've been to some nice restaurants. There's not very much more to see." Raine said.

"Why not go see the Temple of Hephaestus?" Talim asked.

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Mina said.

"Then it's settled, we'll go see the Temple today." Raine said with a slight nod.

Then there was a knocking at the door.

"Are you ladies done in there?" asked Link.

"Almost!" Raine said loudly, then she turned to Talim.

"Let's get this chain mail off of you." She said.

Raine and Mina helped Talim take her suit off, leaving Talim almost completely naked. Had it not been for her undergarments, she would have been. Talim started to glow red with embarrassment and grabbed her cloths quickly and hid behind them. Raine and Mina laughed a little.

"It's not funny!" Talim said heatedly.

"Talim, we're all women here, you shouldn't be embarrassed about us seeing you in your underwear." Raine said.

"But it's just… I look like a washboard, you two look so curvy." Talim sheepishly explained as she put her clothing on.

Mina and Raine looked at each other as if they we're debating about what to say next.

"Well, uhh.. You will get a physique like ours some day."Mina assured Talim.

Neither Raine nor Mina has ever had to have a talk like this to someone.

They've never had to explain to anyone about growth and other bodily functions.

It was an awkward conversation, even if it lasted for a few moments.

"Hey, Talim." Raine finally began, " What do you know about your uhmm.. well.. womanly functions."

"What do you mean?" Talim asked.

"Uhm.. you know.. puberty."

"What's that?"

"Well," Mina began, in an attempt to help Raine out, "It's when and young lady like you turns into a woman."

"You mean when I get taller and grow older?"

"Well, kinda, but the whole process of it." Raine said.

"Not really. I never really had someone tell me about it…" Talim said.

"Well… Mina and I will explain to you about it later."

"Okay." Talim said.

Mina shot a look at Raine, the kind of look that says 'What do you mean Mina and I?'.

Raine gave her a look back as if to answer the question.

* * *

"Hey Rothion, got any of that chain mail stuff for Me and Dante?" Maga asked Rothion.

"Sadly, no. This is all I can spare for free. I do have a family to take care of after all." Rothion replied.

Maga and Rothion were in the back room next to his home furnace where he melts metal and makes his weapons and armor.

"Let me ask you something Maga. It's about yours and Dante's swords. They look ancient. As if they came from an old forgotten place."

"Well, we got them from our village, as a 'remember our fallen' kind of gift. Supposedly, they were taken from a fallen bandit during a raid on our village long ago by some group that called them selves the Black Wind." He began, "This particular bandit was carrying around these swords for their ruthless leader. A Young blonde headed boy. He seemed far too young to even be in a group such as this, but sure enough, he showed why he was considered their leader. A lot of people died that day, my parents died that day, but in the end, our village succeeded in driving away the bandits. The bandit's managed to take much of our valuables and destroyed several buildings."

"The black wind… My wife had spoken of them before. They were indeed led by a young blonde headed man. He had long since stopped leading the group and they both searched for Soul Edge together, in order to destroy it. She had once considered him her friend. He disappeared and was never seen again. This was before she and I were married... You'd have to ask her to learn more about it..." Rothion said.

"Where is she now?"

"She left a few months ago to finish what she started with Soul Edge. She said she was heading to Japan to search for an old friend there, one who had helped her before in her travels."

"I see. Do you think perhaps she is heading for Ostriensburgh now?" Maga asked thoughtfully.

"There's that possibility." Rothion replied.

"Now about your sword," Rothion said, in attempt to change the subject, "I Just finished it last night."

"And that reminds me," Rothion added, "Your Brother's sword is also finished. You should take it to him."

"Yeah, I guess I should. Where do you have them?"

"They're both wrapped in cloth over there." Rothion said, pointing to a corner of the room.

Although there were a lot of weapons wrapped in cloth over in the corner, It was not hard to spot which blade was His and Dante's. Maga grabbed what he thought was his sword and unwrapped the cloth from it.

Maga's eye's widened in awe at what he saw.

The first he saw was the hilt of his newly acquired weapon. The handle was at least two hands and a half long and wonderfully fitted with a wooded grip wrapped in leather strapping. Maga's hands slowly curled around it as he lifted his sword slowly, inspecting its every aspect.

The guard was an inch thick, and the entire blade half was as wide as his forearm is long. And at the end, it came back as an arrow head would and formed a sharp edged point.

Maga took the clothed blade and walked out the door with it, in search of his brother.

* * *

Dante was strolling down the hall, almost reaching the doorway, when Maga walked out with something covered in cloth.

"Hey Dante, Here's your new sword." He said, holding out the clothed item.

Dante nodded a thanks to Maga and grabbed the sword from his hands. Dante proceeded to take the cloth from the blade, slowly taking in the details of his new extension of his body.

The hilt was finely crafted hard steel, covered securely with a wood handle. The guard extended out and up a little ways towards the tip of the blade. The blade itself began at about two and a half hands wide and slowly regressed into a fine point, coming to an overall length that was almost as tall as Dante himself.

Dante held it out with an outstretched arm to test the weight of the sword, and to his surprise, it was amazingly light. Heavy to most standards, but still light to his standards.

"I can't wait to use it." Dante said in anticipation.

"Who's to say you can't?" Maga said with a grin.

"Is that a challenge little brother?" Dante asked cockily.

"And what if it is?"

"Then I accept your challenge. We'll meet in the plaza."

"The plaza?"

"Why not put a show on for some people? We could make some money on the side."

"You know," Came a voice from behind Dante, "There is a contest today. The arena is at the foot of the Temple of Hephaestus."

Dante spun around to see Link standing right behind him.

"What type of contest?" Dante asked.

"A fighting contest, the winner gets a pretty hefty sum of money."

"And how do you know this?"

Link pulled out a scroll from his shirt pocket and held up to Dante's face.

It read,

_Feel up to a test of might? Welcome then, young warrior, to your destiny of showing your strength._

_Enter yourself in a contest, and battle your way to the top. Become recognized by all as one of the Mightiest warriors of all of Greece!_

_Registry and Arena at foot of Temple of Hephaestus of Athens._

_An amazing sum of money will be rewarded to the winner of the contest._

"I'll take that action." Dante said

"What?" Maga asked.

"Want to see who is better at fighting Maga?"

"Between who?"

"You, Link, and I."

"Wait what?" Link said completely clueless to what Dante was suggesting.

"You're coming with us." Dante said to link.

Link opened his mouth, ready to argue, but with his time with Dante, he's found that there is no arguing with him.

"Okay then Dante, I'll come along." Link said with a smile.

Both turned to Maga, waiting for his answer.

"Alright, But what are the Entrance fees?" Maga asked.

"Link will cover us." Dante said as he patted Link on the back.

"I guess I'll have to throw in some rupees. Apparently people fall head over heels over them." Link said.

"Then it's settled, we'll all enter the contest. We should head there now so we can sign up before the roster gets full." Dante said.

And with that, the three headed out to enter the contest.

* * *

Raine, Mina, and Talim walked down the hallway from the room they were changing in towards The backroom to give Rothion back Talim's chainmail suit. They saw Maga, Link, and Dante talking about something at the end of the hallway.

"I wonder what they're planning today." Mina Thought aloud.

"I don't know, maybe we should ask them. Maybe they would want to come to the Temple with us as well?" Talim suggested.

"That'd be nice."Raine added thinking of the time she would spend with Maga.

The three walked up to the guys and asked them where they were going that day.

"We're entering a contest." Chimed Maga.

"A contest? What kind?" Raine asked.

"This scroll will explain it, we have to go now before there's no more room." Dante said as he hurriedly handed the flier to Raine.

The guys all left quickly , leaving the girls wondering about what just happened.

"Well? Let's see what this scroll has to say then." Raine said as she opened the scroll.

"The contest is at the foot of the Temple." Raine said.

"Maybe we can go to the temple and cheer them on afterwards?" Mina suggested.

"I'd rather not watch them or anyone else fight." Talim bluntly stated.

"Talim, you have to realize that it is a primal instinct for men to fight. It's to see who the stronger male is." Mina said in a wise manner.

"Yeah, there's no way of stopping something like that." Raine added.

"But why do they have to have a contest about it?"

"I haven't the slightest clue." Mina said.

"Listen, lets just go to the temple and enjoy its beauty. Then we'll go cheer on the guys. It's only nice enough that we do that. After all, we're their friends."

"I suppose your right." Talim said.

"Hello ladies. How does the Chain mail fit?" Came Rothion's voice.

"Oh!, " Raine half yelled from surprise, " Well, Mina's and mine fit fine, it's just Talim's is far to large for her." Raine said as she handed Talim's suit of mail to Rothion.

"Hmm, I thought as much. I'm sorry I couldn't help you as much Talim." He said.

"It's quite alright.. It was a very big help for you to allow us to stay here in your home." Talim said with a smile.

"You are all welcomed back here anytime." Rothion answered back with a smile as well.

"Where did the guys go off to?" He asked.

"They're entering in a contest today. We're going to go cheer them on after we go see the Temple of Hephaestus." Raine said.

"Well, all I can say is have fun. They know that contest last's a few days right?" Rothion said.

"A few days? Really?"

"Yep, depending on how many people enter. Last year it lasted 5 days." Rothion replied.

"That's crazy!" Mina blurted out.

* * *

"Okay, we're all signed up right?" Dante asked Link and Maga.

"Yes." They both answered in unison.

"Let's go to the waiting rooms then. I want to see who all we're up against." Dante said.

The group walked into a small building that had a crude sign hung over the doorway reading

'Contestant's Room'.

The inside barely reflected what the outside looked like. The outside of the building was amazingly crafted out of stone and was beautifully decorated with flowers and vines crept up its sides. The inside was far from that. The inside walls were lined with rotting wood, had few places to sit, and smelled awful. In several corners were mouse holes, possibly connected in a network of tunnels.

There were already three other contestants sitting inside.

First, there was man with short brown hair that aimed itself behind him. He wore black pants and an orange vest with a light brown lining all around it. A large scar could visibly be seen across his chest. The man sat with his legs crossed, balancing a staff in his hands, as if meditating his power into the staff.

Another man, with black hair that had one side combed back and the other hanging up and out over his eye, sat next to him. He wore a vest as well, though it was colored quite differently. His clothes were light tan, the only outlining his clothes had were black lines going down the sides of his pants and some black around his shoulders. He smirked at the group as they passed by.

The group sat at the end of the line and looked at the final contestant who was leaning against the wall.

Dante quickly recognized who he was. It was the samurai from the bar a few nights ago. He had given him saki out of pity.

"Nice meeting you again. I never thanked you for that saki." Dante said to him.

The Samurai, who was relaxing and had his eyes closed, perked up one eyelid to see who was talking.

"Well, if it isn't the cry baby." He said.

"Excuse me?" Dante said in an annoyed tone.

"You heard me."

"What's he talking about?" Maga whispered to Dante.

"Apparently someone else." Dante said loud enough for the samurai to hear.

The samurai stood straight up and faced Dante.

"Nope, I never mistake a face." He stated.

"Listen asshole, your really starting to piss me off." Dante said. Just then, a man stepped into the room with a list.

"Okay fellas, the tournaments about to start. Here's the rules; No killing each other. I can't stress that enough. These people didn't come here to see a slaughter; they came to see some fights. Cutting is okay, deep gashes are okay, but please, try not to slash at each others heads, and try not to stab in each other's stomachs. I can see that'll be hard for you two with the large swords. Bone crushing and breaking is okay.  
Secondly try to put on a show, meaning, make the fight last.  
And that's pretty much it. Heh, you'd think there'd be more rules to something like this. Anyways, here's the match ups."

Link against…" He said as he brought his face a little closer to the list of contestants, "Maxi."

"Kilik against Maga… and… Dante against.. Mitsurugi? Is that how it is pronounced?"

"Yes" Said the samurai.

'_Good, this asshole really has it coming now.' _Dante thought to himself.

"Okay guys, first up is.. Link and Maxi. Follow me."

Link stood up and so did the man in tan clothing and proceeded to follow the announcer.

"Good luck." Maga said to Link as he passed by.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it." Link said back.

* * *

"This is by far the most serene place I've ever been in my whole life…." Raine said in admiration as she, Mina and Talim walked through the Temple of Hephaestus.

The temple, being very famous for its elegance and beauty, was normally packed tight, full of tourists and the residents of Athens. But today was no normal day; it was the opening day of the annual fighting tournament. So in today's case, it was empty. It was abnormally cold inside the temple. But yet so warm. Its walls were hand crafted by professional carpenters and artists. Crystal clear Water dribbled peacefully down a four layer fountain lined with masterfully cut gems, changing the colors of the water at every layer.. An enormous statue of Hephaestus himself; sitting on his famed anvil, was at the end of the temple. At the foot of the statue was a young blonde haired woman, kneeling in prayer.

"I wonder who that is." Talim whispered

"Please, tell me what I must do… Should I stand here and wait or should I go and look for Sophitia?" The woman asked contritely.

The group watched her to see what her next move was.

She stood up

"I understand." She said, and then she took a shield from the foot of the statue.

She turned to run until she met the gaze of her audience.

"Oh uhh h-hello." She nervously stuttered

"Hi." Talim waved, "Is there a problem? We heard you talking to yourself. Did you loose someone? Can we help?"

"Uhh-"

"Something tells me that you shouldn't have taken that shield." Mina said.

"W-well.."

"Don't be mean Mina. Maybe that's her shield?"Raine snapped.

"Its n-"

"Hello, my name is Raine." Raine said with an outstretched arm.

"Uhm, I'm Cassandra." The woman said, accepting the hand shake from Raine.

"You're Cassandra? Patroklos and Pyrrha have said so much about you!" Talim butted in.

"You know my niece and nephew?" She asked.

"Well, kinda. We've been staying at Rothion's home for the past few days. We told him we were searching for Soul Edge and he offered to help us." Raine said.

"You're searching for Soul Edge?" Cassandra asked disbelief.

"Yep. Us and our other friends." Mina said.

"Where are they now?" Cassandra asked politely.

"They've entered in the fighting contest." Talim said, "We're going to be cheering them on later."

"The tournament started like a half hour ago." Cassandra bluntly stated.

"What? We've been here that long!?" Raine asked in surprise.

"We need to go then!" Mina added in hastily.

"Well, mind if I tag along? I was just heading there myself." Cassandra asked

"Sure you can. But we have to hurry." Raine said with a kind smile.

The group briskly left the temple and made their way down the long tiring steps to the tournament.

"There sure is a lot of people here." Talim said as the group searched for a spot to sit in the large crowd.

The arena itself was at the center of a small body of water, whilst the stands were on solid ground and extended high into the sky. The group were near the bottom of the stands when they spotted an empty seat next to some Woman in a blue outfit.

"There's a place to sit!" Cassandra exclaimed.

"I see it! Let's go before someone else takes it!" Raine yelled over the roar of the crowd.

The group quickly made their way to the empty seats.

"Welcome everyone to your favorite annual tournament of strength!" Boomed a voice over the entire crowd. " As you all know, I'm not one for words! So without further ado, please allow me to introduce our first brave contestants! Kicking off our tournament this year are these two young warriors from far off lands! Our first combatant is Maxi!"

The crowd went wild over a man in tan clothing that walked into the center of the arena, bowing to every side of the stands.

"Whoo! Go Maxi!" Yelled the lady in blue next to the group.

"And challenging this rather dandy man is the man in green, Link!"

Link walked to the center of the arena so that everyone would see him.

"Go link!"

"You can do it!"

"Whooo!" were some of the cheers from the ladies of the group.

"Are any of them one of your friends?" Cassandra asked Raine.

"Yes, Link is one of our friends." She replied.

"Winner is decided by knockout or ring out!" boomed the voice.

"Contestants get ready! Fight!"

* * *

**So, how did we go? I personally think that for two minds, My co-writer and I can mesh a good chapter together. We completely accepted each other's ideas and didn't have to go head to head with any of them. Though, I was little uncomfortable with the mention of 'puberty' within the story. But sometimes, things that you don't think is right to happen, can seem to add more to the plot and to the relationships of the characters. Speaking of characters, KILIK AND MAXI! WOOT! Next to Siegfred, these are my two favorite characters. And yes, I did call Maxi a dandy man. Because he is. That's just how he is. Don't argue. And Xianghua and Cassandra! You better believe that where there's Maxi and Kilik, there's Xianghua close by. And as for Cassandra, meh. She's a little too egotistical for my liking, but she fits in the story. And so she's here. So just to summarize what's happened.**

**-Raine, Mina, and Link are wearing Chainmail.**

**-Maga and Dante have new weapons. To be specific, Maga has Requiem, and Dante has Claymore, from Soul Caliber 4.(I think I saw it in SC2 but it's been forever since ive played it.) Requiem is really from earlier then that, in fact, I think it's in Soul Blade for the PS1. But I've been proven wrong before. **

**-Mitsurugi is a douche, but a cool douche.**

**-Cassandra stole the shield of Hephaestus, because that's what she did in SC2.**

**-The ladies of the group indeed have just sat down next to the most possibly hardest headest(?) Female character in all of the Soul Series.**

**So from here on out, I think my co writer will be writing the cornier stuff in my later chapters,**

**That's if she's up to it.**

**But anyways, enough of my babbling. I'm gonna crank up my new Disturbed CD and let you all read and review!**


	9. Ch 9: Enter Kilik and Maxi, Reasons

**Hey there dudes and dudettes! It's been cool that your reading my stuff. I'm saying this because I like to entertain people. Whether it's displaying my guitar virtuosity, or even writing this story, I enjoy it. It's what I do. And not only do I have these stories on FF , I have them on DA as well! So if there's even a few people on Fanfiction, There's A few more on Deviantart**

**I do not own Soul Caliber or Legend of Zelda in any way, but i could. I could maybe buy stock holding shares from them, so then I could own a small portion of them. Do they even have stocks? I should look into that….**

* * *

"Contestants get ready! Fight!"

'_Okay, let's see what this clown has to show.'_ Maxi thought to himself.

Link unsheathed his sword and latched his shield to his arm.

'_How predictable, all these Greeks use are swords and shields.' _Maxi ruminated.

Maxi pulled a set of nunchuku from his belt and twirled them around a few times and began to move his feet back and forth.

'_Need to keep moving. Keep him guessing Maxi.'_

Link ran forward, sword raised high, and ready to bring his wrath down upon Maxi's head.

Maxi tightened his grip on his nunchuku and pulled them tight and held them above his head, using the chain that held them together to stop Link's blow.

'_Pathetic'_

Just then, Link thrust his shield into Maxi's stomach, knocking the air from Maxi's lungs.

Link spun around, bringing his sword around as well, and cut into Maxi's right arm.

"Not bad.." Maxi said aloud as he stood to his feet.

He swung his nunchuku around his arm at lightning fast speed, confusing link just long enough for him to bring it upwards into Link's chin. Link lingered back a few feet, dazed at Maxi's blow. Maxi ran forward delivering another blow, and another blow. Maxi quickly developed his small burst of attacks into an onslaught of lightning fast blows.  
Link was knocked to the ground. He spit out some blood and rubbed his shoulder.

"You're not bad yourself." Link said as he recovered from Maxi's attacks.

Link brought his sword to his side and squatted down for a split second. He then spun around, with his sword extended outward. The blade caught Maxi in the stomach. Link had spun around with so much force; he didn't stop spinning and continued to cut into Maxi.

'_This fucker is fast.' _Maxi thought as he hit the ground from Link's assault.

Link jumped into the air and as he landed, his blade grazed Maxi's side. Maxi had barely moved out of the way when Link had done this.

Maxi Kicked Link in the chest, knocking him back a few more paces, and slowly eased himself up.

By now, both fighters were bleeding pretty heavily. Maxi was breathing heavily from the pain that was enshrouding his body. He had several gashes in his abdomen and a deep wound in his right arm.

Link's nose was bleeding and a little blood was trickling down from a score directly under his temple.

'_Any more of this and I I'll fucking feint.' _Maxi reflected.

Maxi slowly circled Link, trying not to show his pain.

'_What can I do to him? I can't hit this guy hard enough to knock him out… Wait. I CAN knock him out.'_

Maxi started to walk closer to Link, making Link slowly edge backwards.

Link was moving closer to the edge, and he began to realize what Maxi was trying to do.

Maxi was trying to ring him out, and Link couldn't do a thing about it.

Link was almost to the edge when Maxi lunged; bringing his foot up to kick.  
"Rising Dragon of the Zodiac!"  
Link moved to the side, but not far enough, because Maxi caught his shirt and pulled Link along with him. Making both of them land into the water.

'_Not the water, not the water!' _Link thought. But it was to late, Maxi had succeeded in making Link fall into the water.

"Dang! I guess I lost too." Maxi said as he spit some water from his mouth.

"I Hate the water…." Link said aloud, grabbing his hat which was now off of his head and beginning to sink into the water.

Maxi's eyes widened.

"You're an elf?" He blurted out.

Link was dazed from the fight and had not realized right away what he meant and quickly threw hit hat on top of his head. _**(A/N:**__**By far, the hardest sentence I've ever had to write.)**_

"I can't believe I just beat the hell out of an elf!" Maxi nearly yelled.

"Shhh! Look, don't say a thing." Link managed to say before the boat man that ferried the two across the water onto the arena arrived. He extended his hand and helped both Link and Maxi out of the water.

The crowd was going wild.

"I won't tell of what I saw." Maxi assured Link, who was now freezing from the ice cold water.

"Thank you." Link said.

Maxi placed his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.

"I feel like I'm going to pass out..." Maxi said as he caressed his head.

"To tell you the truth, I was close to feinting myself..." Link breathed.

* * *

The crowd was cheering loudly now and every now and again, Maga could hear the clash of Link's sword against metal.

"Sounds like they're putting on a real show." Maga muttered.

"Not getting scared are you?" Dante teased.

"No!" Maga snapped.

"Sounds like it to me." Dante said.

"Why are we doing this again?" Maga asked, trying to change the subject.

"To see who the better fighter is."

"Right..." Maga said.

"That would be me." Mitsurugi interrupted.

Dante looked at the samurai and raised an eyebrow.

"You're a real cocky asshole aren't ya?" He said.

"Cocky? I merely know who will be the victor."

"No one asked you." Dante growled.

Maga looked at the monk he had assumed was Kilik.

"Why are you fighting in this tournament?"

Kilik, who was still meditating, opened his eyes and looked to Maga.

"Are you asking me?" He questioned him.

"Yes."

"My friends and I need the money." He replied.

"What if you don't win?" Maga asked.

"I will."

"What makes you so sure?" Dante asked, averting his attention to the monk.

"I am willful and have more faith in myself then I have in you." He replied.

"It's not a battle of will, monk." Misturugi interrupted, "It's a battle of strength."

Kilik stood and gazed at the samurai in response to his remark.

"I've met men like you. All believing that they are invincible, they search for challenges, going on forever, never quenching their thirst of blood lust. Of approval. You may live, but will never achieve your quest of attestation of your might." He preached.

Misturugi met the gaze of Kilik with a fierce growl of dissatisfaction.

"You must not know whom you talk to monk. I am Misturugi, The Demon of Japan. I have single handedly defeated mass armies; I have plagued every Japanese warriors mind with fear. I have defeated the almighty gun. I have killed more men then all of nation's wars, I am more violent then violence, more deadly then death. I would hold my tongue if I were you." He spat hatefully. _**(A/N: borrowed that from a Megadeth song.)**_

Just then the battle announcer casually entered the room with his scroll.

"Okay, the battle between Link and Maxi has ended in a draw. Both contestants are disqualified. The next fight will begin in a few moments, I suggest you get ready.." He said and looked down at his scroll yet again, "Kilik and Maga."

Maga grabbed his newly forged weapon and stood, as did Kilik.

"Let's go you two." He said to both of the participants.

Both warriors followed when Maga stopped for a moment.

"What happened to Link and Maxi?" He asked the battle announcer.

"Those two were really banged up, they've been checked into the infirmary."

Maga gulped at his answer.

"Not having second thoughts, are you?" Dante called over to his brother.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Maga answered back.

Maga continued to follow the announcer into a seemingly ancient tunnel towards the ferry.

It gave him goose bumps, considering he had never really been in a tournament.

'_Okay, just remember that he can't kill you, and you can't kill him.' _Maga assured himself, sparking a flare of confidence.

Upon reaching it, Maga and Kilik stepped into the small boat and slowly made their way across the water, nearing the stage. They exited the tunnel and the glare of sunlight and bright colors shone brightly. The crowd began to boom with cheers, and some even threw confetti upon the arrival of the warriors.

Maga began to grin with excitement.

'_The crowd really is excited. This might be fun!'_

The boat finally reached the stage.

Kilik was the first to step off the boat. He slowly walked to the center of the arena.

"And now, Round two of our most festive event of the year is beginning! Our next brave warrior hails from the Ling Empire! The battle monk, Kilik!" boomed the voice of the announcer. The crowd began to cheer yet again. In answer, Kilik twirled his staff around his neck and brought it down to his side and walked to the far side of the arena.

"And challenging Kilik will be the young, flamboyant Maga!"

Maga sheepishly walked to the center of the ring and waved to the cheering audience in the stands, then returned to his side of the arena.

"Don't hold anything back." Maga yelled to the other competitor.

"Oh don't worry, I won't." Kilik replied as he took his battle stance.

"Warriors, prepare yourselves! Fight!"

* * *

"Oh no!" Yelled Raine.

She watched as Link and Maxi both fell into the water at the same time.

"Darn it!" Bellowed the lady in blue. "I could have done much better then that!"

Raine stared at the strange lady throwing a tantrum next to her.

The distressed woman saw that she was being gawked at by other audience members and quickly blushed and sat down.

"Are you okay?" Talim asked her.

"I'm not crazy if that's what your thinking!" She blurted.

"Are just that into the fights?" Raine interjected.

"No! It's just that , that was one of my friends. We saw the fliers around town when we arrived here today, and we kinda needed the money, so I suggested we enter… Of course Kilik and Maxi Wouldn't let me join. I could have beaten that guy!" She began to explain.

"Hey! There's no need to get all flustered." Mina said to her.

"Yeah, I know. It's just it's so frustrating when men think they can take care of anything, and that the woman can't." She said.

"I know what you mean. When I worked with My friends Maga and Dante at my uncles ranch, they wouldn't let me do anything." Raine said.

She extended her hand to the lady in blue.

"I'm Raine, What's your name?"

The woman looked at Raine as if she were questioning whether or not she should accept her greeting.

"I'm Xianghua." She said after a few moments, accepting the hand shake.

"It's nice to meet you Xianghua, " Raine began, " This is Mina," She said, pointing to Her hard headed companion, " And this is Talim." She finished.

"Oh and I almost forgot, This is Cassandra…. Wait, where'd she go?" Raine asked as she searched for her new acquaintance.

"Huh?" Mina asked, " She was here just a second ago. I was paying to much attention to the fight to babysit her."

"She got up and left a little after the fight started." Talim said.

"And she hasn't been back?"Raine asked her.

"No. I assumed she was just as disgusted at this barbaric event just as much as I am."

Just then, the crowd began to cheer again and the group averted their attention to a ferry that was slowly nearing the arena.

"That's Maga!" Raine cheered.

"And that Kilik!" Xianghua applauded next to her.

"It looks like our friends are again pitted against each other." Talim said

"And now, Round two of our most festive event of the year is beginning! Our next brave warrior hails from the Ling Empire! The battle monk, Kilik!" boomed the voice of the announcer. The crowd began to cheer yet again. In answer, Kilik twirled his staff around his neck and brought it down to his side and walked to the far side of the arena.

"Kilik looks real talented with that staff of his." Mina gawked.

"Don't get any ideas." Xianghua growled.

"And challenging Kilik will be the young, flamboyant Maga!" The announcer boomed again.

"Flamboyant? More like dim witted!" Raine laughed.

Maga sheepishly walked to the center of the ring and waved to the cheering audience in the stands, then returned to his side of the arena.

"Warriors, prepare yourselves! Fight!"

"Go Maga!" cried his friends.

"Come on Kilik! Win this one!" Yelled Xianghua.

* * *

Maga answered the call of battle. With his sword lifted high above his head, he charged and leapt up into the air, and brought his sword down to that ground in front of Kilik; causing dirt and small shards of stone to fly into the air. It was the same tactic he and Dante had used countless times against rogue bandits, the only difference was that Maga was alone and fighting a very skilled warrior. Kilik took several steps back and shielded his eyes.

'_Clever.' _He thought, _' He'll come through the dust right about… now!'_

As Kilik had predicted, Maga rushed straight through the vague cloud and thrust his sword forward. Kilik sidestepped out of his way and quickly brought the end of his staff down on Maga's knee; making it buckle and sending Maga hard to the ground. Kilik hammered the butt end of his staff into Maga's back, causing him to cry out in pain. Maga rolled over and swung his sword with mass rage and nearly took Kilik's head clean of his head.

"Easy there!" Kilik said as he jumped back.

Maga stood up from the ground and grinned.

"I thought you weren't going to hold back." He said.

"I accept your challenge then." Kilik responded.

Kilik ran forward and sung his bow staff around his side, causing it to gain momentum, at Maga.

Maga raised his sword to protest the possibly bone shattering blow to his arm and returned a blow with the flat of his blade onto Kilik's left arm. Kilik nearly fell to the ground from the force of the blow.

'_Once again, a clever move.' _Kilik began to think and he planted his feet to the ground,_ 'But he is still very predictable.'_

Kilik threw his staff at Maga and ran forward along side it. The Staff caught Maga by surprise and hit him directly in the stomach. Kilik then ran next to him and brought his legs up around Maga's neck and threw Him to the ground. He performed all this and caught his staff, which was still, somehow, suspended in mid air. When he hit the ground, Maga let loose his grip on his sword and it slid far from his reach. Maga began to feel his way towards his sword but Kilik jumped on top of him and placed his foot on his wrist. Kilik held his staff into the air as if to impale Maga with the end of his staff. The crowd boomed with cheers.

Maga quickly swung his foot up and kicked Kilik in his back, causing him to stagger forward off of Maga's wrist, giving him enough time to scramble for his sword.

Maga reached his sword and stood up from the ground.

'_I gotta think of something. He's way too quick for me, and he knows what I'll do next…'_Maga thought to himself_. _He thought for a long moment and something clicked into his mind. Maga smiled at his new thought. He quickly devised his plan and charged forward at Kilik and leapt into the air once again and brought his sword down onto the arena floor. Dust and stone floated into the air, blinding Kilik.

'_He's trying to pull this off again?'_ He thought at he shielded his eyes from the dust particles.

What he did not know, from the other side of the dust cloud, Maga threw his sword up into the air above the dirt cloud and charged into it. Kilik saw Maga's blade began to emerge from above the dirt cloud and assumed Maga had leapt into the air in attempt to impale him and brought his stick above his head and held it tight with both hands. Just then, Maga burst through the cloud and jumped into the air and grouped his feet together and drop kicked Kilik in the chest. Kilik's air was knocked out of his lungs as Maga's feet made contact with his chest. Just then, Maga's sword came straight down and planted itself deep into the arena floor. Maga caught it's handle and pulled himself back and landed on his feet.

'_why'd he stop?'_Kilik thought, but quickly realized what was happening. In the heat of battle, Kilik had not noticed how close he was to the edge of the arena. His opponent had skillfully knocked him back hard enough to make him fly very far backwards and slide off the arena.

Kilik felt a cold sensation come over him as he plummeted off the arena edge.

The crowd went wild and cheered loudly. Kilik splashed above the water and saw Maga grinning with satisfaction.

"Looks like I win." Maga said to the monk as he extended his hand to help him out the water.

"I suppose you do..." Kilik mumbled.

* * *

Dante and Misturugi were staring each other down in the contestant waiting room.

They have been since Maga and Kilik has left for their fight. Ever since the exact moment those two left the room, the tension was so tight that the smallest nick in the works could make both warriors snap.

'_I can't wait to beat this guy. Demon? Hah, that's hilarious. He thinks he can't be beaten, but oh I will. I will win. It's not about Maga and I anymore. It's about kicking this cocky bastard's ass.'_

Then the announcer stepped into the room with his trusty clipboard.

"Wow, you could cut the tension in here with the smallest prick." He said in an annoyingly gleeful tone

"Any ways, the battle has just ended. Maga won by means of ring out. It was a rather spectacular battle, if I do say so myself. Both of them are in the infirmary at the moment. Our officials wanted to make sure nothing was broken."

"That's good to know." Dante said.

"Anyways, your fight won't be happening today. It's been rescheduled for tomorrow, due to damages ensued upon the arena during the last two fights. Especially the last one."

"So? A few bumps in the ground won't affect my fighting." Mitsurugi interjected.

"It's not my say. It's the official's choice. Beside's, those aren't just a few bumps in the ground. They're craters!" the announcer exclaimed.

Dante stood up from the bench and stretched his back.

"Well , if there's no match today, then I'll just go now." He said.

Dante casually walked out the door.

"I guess I'll go to the infirmary, I'm sure that's where everyone else is…" he said to himself.

* * *

"That's amazing. I never imagined a world like you just described." Maxi said.

"Yeah, it's real great there."

Link and Maxi were in a white room that was littered with crude tools used for doctoring wounds and harsh battle wounds. Maxi was sitting upright and had several bandages woven around his body. Link, one the other hand, who was lying on his side, had several bruises and a bandage he had wrapped around his head himself.

"And the castle town you talked about! And all those open fields!"

"Please! Don't talk so loud. Oh…" Link groaned, " I think I'm going to throw up again."

And that he did, luckily, there was a pale right next to him.

"I didn't hit you that hard did I?" Maxi asked.

"Yes, you did. I'm happy you just didn't crack open my skull."

Just then, two large oak doors opened up behind Link and some people entered.

"Oh there they are!" Said a familiar priestess' voice.

Link began to smile.

Maxi, on the other hand, did not. In fact, he actually frowned in disappointment.

"There you are! I can't believe you lost! And so did Kilik! Now we're broke! I could have one this thing but noooo! You and Kilik had to play tough and enter instead!"

"I didn't know what I was up against Xianghua." He mumbled.

"Ohh please stop yelling." Link moaned in pain.

"Are you okay Link?" asked Talim. She had walked around Link's bed and stood in front of him.

Raine and Mina followed closely behind.

"Wow Link! I didn't know you knew such pretty girls!" Maxi exclaimed with a devious grin.

"Hello mister dandy. I'm Mina." Mina began to tease.

"Please, please, you can just call me Maxi." He slickly spoke. _**(A/N: More like Maxipad!)**_

"I'll think about it." Mina cooed.

"Hey Talim? Can you do me a favor?" Link asked.

"Of course Link!" she responded.

"Can you get my pouch for me? The nurses took it from me and set it across the room."

"Sure thing!" She said and hurried to the area Link pointed to.

Link gazed at the stranger who had been yelling at Maxi.

"Who are you?" Link asked Xianghua.

Xianghua turned around and met the exhausted gaze of Link's blue eyes.

"I'm Xianghua."

"It's nice to meet you Xianghua. I'm Link." He said as he painfully reached out his hand to shake hers.

"You don't need to shake my hand. You'r in to much pain to do anything right now." She said.

Link slowly retracted his shaky hand.

Just then Talim came back with Link's trusty pouch and held it in front of him.

"Thanks Talim." He said, " Now can you do me another favor? Can you look in there and see if you can't find a bottle with red liquid inside of it."

"Of course." She said kindly as she explored the confines of his magical side pouch.

After of moments of searching, Talim produced a bottle full of red liquid.

"What's that?" Raine asked

"It's a potion." He said.

"Can you uncork it for me?" He asked the ever so kind Talim.

"Yes." She said.

After she pulled the cork from the bottle, the most putrid smell empowered the room.

Mina and Xianghua gagged at the smell while Raine and Talim pinched their noses.

"That's horrible! Did something die in there?" Raine nearly shouted.

Talim handed Link the bottle of rancid liquid.

"Believe it or not, this is the better smell it put's off. After a few months, it smells the worst." Link said.

And with that, he gulped down half the bottle of liquid.

The group watched in amazement as his bruises began to lighten up and disappear as well as Link become more active.

"Thank you very much Talim." Link said.

"You might want to take some too Maxi." He added said as he held the bottle out to Maxi.

Maxi took the bottle and looked at it in disgust.

"I don't know… Is it safe?" he asked while swirling around the liquid.

"I drank it didn't I?" Link inquired.

Maxi gave one last questionable look at the mysterious red drink.

"Hurry and drink it! It smells horrible!" Xianghua urged.

Maxi drank the rest of the liquid in one quick gulp. His face went pale for a split second.

"Are you okay Maxi?"Xianghua asked.

"Do I look okay?" He replied sarcastically.

Link laughed at Maxi and then he heard the doors creak open and screech closed yet again.

Maxi's face went from a pale frown to a large grin.

"Hey Kilik! You win?" He asked.

"No I didn't."

Raine ran from Link's side over to the doorway.

"Oh Maga! You were great!"

Xianghua followed closely behind her.

"Well, the announcer guy did say put on a show." Maga replied.

"Are you okay Kilik? You look like you took a real beating." Xianghua asked

"Are you serious? I was cut up in places I didn't even know I had, and your babying him! He only has a red mark on his chest!" Maxi shouted in disbelief.

Link slowly inched himself to a sitting position and looked at Maga.

"Then does that mean you won Maga?" Link asked.

"You bet." Maga shouted with excitement. " And with only a few bangs and bruises." He added triumphantly.

"Heh, then I guess the only battle left is going to be Dante's." Link said.

"And that's going to be tomorrow." Kilik added.

"Huh? Why?" Maxi asked.

"Because Maga almost destroyed the stage with that giant sword of his." Raine said.

"Then maybe someone should go find him." Talim suggested.

"Perfect idea! You can come with me!" Mina giddily said and she grabbed Talim's and nearly dragged her out the door.  
"U-uh bye!" Talim managed to say before she was swooshed out the door.

The group waved to Talim as she left and Raine let out a sigh  
"Poor Talim… she doesn't even get a say in anything." Raine said.

"Especially when Mina has made up her mind." Maga chuckled.

"She's really hard headed." Raine added.

"Hah! Kinda sounds like Xianghua here." Maxi said as he pointed to his companion.

"Excuse me?" she nearly shouted.

Kilik took a seat next to Maxi.

"You know he was only joking." Kilik said, trying to keep his friend from getting hurt any further.

"So what brings you too Athens?" Kilik asked Maga.

"We're looking for something." He replied.

"What?" Xianghua, who was now sitting on the bed next to Maxi as well, asked.

"You might not have heard of it. We actually just heard of it a few weeks ago when a group of bandits attacked our village. It's a sword called Soul Edge."

Maxi looked at Kilik as did Xianghua.

"We have heard of it." He stated, "We've been searching for it for months. Slowly gathering information on it and gathering its shards… We hope to destroy it."

"So do we." Link said.

"We almost did before." Kilik said, "We shattered it, hoping that breaking the sword. But that only made things worse and now there are pieces of its evil all over the world" Kilik added.

"Have you found a way to destroy it?" Link asked.

"Yes, the key to destroying it is its sister sword."

"Soul Caliber."

* * *

**Alas, this chapter wasn't as long as I had wished, but I was spent on those fight scenes.(Even if they aren't that good) So the gang has finally learned about soul Caliber. I don't sound as ecstatic as about this as I normally would, but it's late, and I'm tired. So I just want to say Read and review. **

**And now, to add her summery is my co-writer, Jennifer.**

_**Hi Everyone! Jennifer here, I'm Jesse's co-writer for 'His Tale of Souls and Swords'. I wrote the 'stands' scene and the 'stare down' scene. Like it? It's not as much as Jesse writes, but he says he really appreciates my help!**_

_**It was cool of Jess to ask for my help, I've been real bored lately. Oh, and where'd Cassandra go? Ooohh maybe she ran away? Or something? Anyways, I just finished reading IMO the best Soul Caliber Fic ever! Its by the author Sokluski. I can't recall the name ATM but I'll tell you all in the next chapter! Just keep an eye out for my Bold-Italicized author notes and writings and summaries and stuff.**_

_**Any ways, Read and Review (Go easy on my scenes please!)**_


	10. Chapter 10:New friends, A Contest Won

_**Hi everyone! Jen here. I said I would tell you the story's name. Its called 'A Hylian's Tale of Souls and Swords' It's a three part series. So far the first two parts are completed. It's by far the most awesome fic I've ever read! It's got action, adventure, romance, and funny situations! READ IT! DO IT NOW! No WAIT! Read this first! Then go an read it!.**_

**Okay, chapter ten. And to think, I plan on this to be at least 40+ chapters. Just for part one! Let's see where I left off.. Okay, I wasn't all that ecstatic about the last chapter because I was sleepy. So in the ending of this chapter, I am going to be doubly ecstatic! If that's even a term! No pieces of tedium here! Nope! So anyways, I realized i made Mina call Maxi 'Mr. Dandy' I'm warning you all now. I will keep calling him dandy. I don't swing THAT WAY, It's just, look at him! What dude cannot accept the fact that the Elvis impersonator is dandy looking. Jen actually pokes fun at me for that. She says**

"**You know what Jess, I bet that even though your not gay, You'd still do it with Maxi if you had the chance!" Then I say, " He'd have to buy me a few drinks first." , then we laugh and jam out to Ten Thousand Fists. If you don't know what that is, it's a Disturbed album. **

**Any ways, I'll just put the disclaimer up so I don't have to give my first born child to Namco and Nintendo.**

**I don't own Soul Caliber or Legend of Zelda.**

**Jen mentioned to me about how she hoped that you all would like her sections of the story, but I asked if you all knew which ones they were. She said that she designated where they where at the end of the story. I said that that just won't do. She asked me why and I suggested that in the dividers, she put a J in it. So she said okay. So from now on, if you see a J in the dividers, that the paragraphs that follow are hers.**

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-J-=-=-=-=-**

The sun was once again lowering itself under the hills, as it's daily routine had demanded. It's final ray hovered above the city tops, and glistened upon the walls of the temple of Hephaestus, the lame smith of the gods. It is said he forged the breast plate of Hercules himself. The final burst of light meant that

dusk was arriving, ready to consume all of Athens and its inhabitants. Even though it was becoming nightfall, It was as if all through the large city, citizens were wide awake with festive life. Apparently. The arrival of the tournament meant a night of festivities So it was quite hectic for Mina and Talim to find their companion. Lamps were lit all through the city and laughter can be heard at every footstep. But the most noticeable thing that could be heard was the people speaking about the excitement of each battle that had occurred that day.. If you listened closely, they could be heard betting on who would win the tournament.

"I bet it'll be that character with the big sword. Just look at how he tore up the arena!" someone mentioned.

"I wish I could have seen the fight. I Have some friends from my old home who would have loved to here about it.

"Just remember; there's two more fighters, one of them could beat him."

"I heard that the Demon of Japan had signed up." One man said

"No way." Another said.

" Excuse me, have you seen a man about yey high, short black hair, and lugging a huge sword around?" All the men of the group averted their attention to whom was speaking.

It was a beautiful young Asian lady holding a type of staff with a half scimitar on the end of it and accompanying her was a small tan girl with a smile that would make even the coldest man's heart melt.

"Actually, yes. My friends I just saw him go into that bar." The man said as he pointed to a building with broken window sills and a busted door.

"You did? I didn't see him." Said a young man in the group.

"That's because you were to busy jabbering on about how you wish you could have been at the fights today and how your old friends would have loved to here them."

"Thank you." Mina said. She held onto Talim's hand and dragged her along towards the bar.

"I don't want to go in there." Talim said as they neared the bar.

"Why? Don't you ever wonder what goes on in there?" Mina asked.

"I know what goes on in there. Mean old mean drinking their lives away. It just disgusts me how they treat themselves." Talim responded with a hint of sadness.

"Well, I won't leave you out here alone. Hey I got an idea!" Mina said as she ran back to the group of men they had just spoke to.

"Excuse me again. Can you do me a favor? I know you must have something better to do but my friend doesn't want to go in there, could you guys watch her for me? I wouldn't forgive myself if anything bad happened to her." She asked.

"Well, " One of the men of the group said, " We do have plans to go meet some more friends all the way across Athens.." He said.

"I'll watch her." Said a younger man of the group, " You guys can go ahead with out me, I'll catch up after a little bit."

"Are you sure Melach?"

"Yeah, sure. I know where we're heading too anyways."

"Alright then, we'll see you later." The group said as they parted with Melach.

"Oh thanks soooo much!" Mina cooed _**(A/N: You know, I've always liked the idea of Mina using her good looks to get what she wants. In this case, it worked.)**_

Talim wasn't close enough to hear the conversation. All she saw was Mina talking to the group of people from earlier. And now Mina was bringing one of the guys over. He was slightly taller then Mina and wore some sort of clothing that reminded her allot about Maga and Dante's attire. His long black hair was pulled back and tied with a piece of cloth. Talim slightly blushed at the sight of him. Mina brought him over and he smiled at Talim.

"Okay Talim, This is Melach. I'll go on in the bar by myself, so your going to stay here and wait for me with him."

"Uh- Okay." Talim said.

"Okay, have fun!" Mina said as she happily skipped into the bar.

"So.. uhm…" Melach began, "What brings you too Athens?"

"The wind has guided me here, along with my friends."

"Oh."

An awkward silence befell the two and Talim was getting nervous.

"Did you see the fight today?" Talim asked, trying to break the silence.

"No… I had to take care of my nephew. Though I wish I went to see them. My friends told me how there was a guy with a huge sword fighting and how he almost destroyed the arena with it."

"Yes, I know about that, The fighter is a friend of mine."

"I have some friends back home who would have loved to hear about that fight. They wield huge swords too. I think the term for them is Zweihander or two-hander if you will."

"That's funny, my two friends have weapons like that." Talim said.

"Oh really? I have two friends who do as well. They're brothers. Before I came to Athens, the eldest brother and I used to drink together a lot. His younger brother and my cousin use to hang out a lot."

"What a coincidence!" Talim chimed, " My friends happen to be brothers too."

"That's neat." The man said.

"So, you said the wind guided you here?"

"I'm a priestess of the wind."

"And that means?"

"It means that I worship the wind, It guides me where ever I go. If I am to meet someone, it is because of the wind gods doing… What do you worship?" Talim asked, knowing well enough that there were many different religions in the world.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? How can you not worship anything?"

"There's to many gods out there. I question whether or not any of them are real."

"The wind god is real."

"And so are everyone else's."

"It does not help to be ignorant to another's beliefs."

"I know, It's just that it is hard to believe in something when there is another contradicting it. Greeks believe in all sorts of gods, Asians believe in a fat guy that sat under a tree."

"That all sounds so narrow-minded." Talim said.

"It might be, but that is all that it sums up to be."

"What do you think about my beliefs?" Talim asked.

"You believe that the wind is a deity."

"True, but let ask you this. Do any of the gods from the other beliefs answer back?"

"What do you mean?"

"When the other people pray to their god, do they get an answer?"

"Some think that they do."

"When I pray, I always receive an answer."

* * *

-=-=--=-=-=--=--

"This place isn't half bad." Dante said to himself.

He gave up on finding his friends and decided to get a few drinks. After looking around for a bar, he had stumbled across this one. It smelled nasty, half the chairs were busted and a few tables were glossed over with spilled ale.

"Feels like home." He said. He walked up and sat at the bar.

"You're the first man to come in." the bartender said from behind his bar. He was cleaning a few glasses.

"Do I get a prize?" Dante joked.

"Oh yea, you get to pay double for your first drink." The bartender laughed.

"I'll try to remember that later when I'm drunk." Dante said.

"So what'll you have then?"

"What's the strongest you've got?"

"You must be new here."

"I am." Dante said.

"Well, the strongest happens to be homemade. We call it a Mule Killer."

"How much for a glass of it?"

"Since your new, I'll warn you. This stuff is much harder then saki. We've never had a man drink more then a few shots of it."

The bartender looked up and smiled.

"Hello there, what can I get ya?"

"What's the strongest you have?" said a familiar voice.

Dante knew who it was instantaneously; he could feel a small annoyance rise inside of him. It was a man he recently come to dislike.

Our strongest is a homemade drink that we call a Mule Killer."

"How much for a glass?"

"Really? What is it with you outsiders asking for a whole mug of it?"

"I'm thirsty."

"What ever, normally a shot of it is one silver, but if you two can finish down your mugs, then I'll give them to you for free."

The bartender grabbed two glass mugs and set them on the counter and left to the back room to get their drinks.

"So now your following me?" Dante said as he turned around.

"Yes. I want to make sure you don't run away before I get to fight you." Mitsurugi said.

"Oh don't worry asshole, that wouldn't happen in your lifetime."

"Hmph," Mitsurugi growled as he sat down next to Dante, "You could have fooled me you cry baby."

"I wasn't crying."

"Yes you were."

The Bartender wheeled a keg and hefted it up onto the bar. He grabbed the glasses and filled them to the brim with his alcoholic concoction and handed the glasses back to the warriors.

Dante took his glass and took several large gulps, as did Mitsurugi. The burning sensation they endured was like holding ones hand in a pot of boiling water.

The bartender just stared at them in awe as the two downed their drinks.

"You two are crazy." he said shaking his head and began to walk off.

"Where do you think your going?" both Dante and Mitsurugi said simultaneously.

"I want some more." Dante said.

"Me too." The samurai added.

The bartender's jaw dropped.

"You're kidding, right?"

Dante and Mitsurugi looked at each other and then looked back to the bartender.

"Do we look like we're kidding?" Dante asked.

Just then, small groups of men gathered around the bar.

"Hey Dimici, I'd like to order a round of-." He began but was cut off by the bartender.

"Angelo, you have to see these two. They're gonna kill themselves if they keep up with the amount of the Mule they're drinking."

"And what might that be? A few shots? They look like they couldn't handle more then two."

Dimici the bartender looked at his friend sternly.

Dante turned and looked at the man who had just entered the bar.

"How much can you drink?" he asked with a smile.

"I'll let you know that I am the record holder here. I can drink twenty shots with out succumbing to alcohol sickness."

"Is that all?" Dante said as he held out his mug, "How many shots would fit in here? What do you think bartender?"

"About six shots worth" He said.

"You lie." Angelo said as he inspected Dante and Mitsurugi, "You didn't just drink a full mug of Mule Killer."

"I tell you what. If you can drink more then me, I'll pay all of your drinks and your friends drinks as well. Every one of them, all on me. But if you can't, you will pay for mine and my friend's drink as well." Dante challenged Angelo.

"You're on." Angelo said as he sat down next to Dante.

"Dimici, since the drinks are free for my friends and I, how about the most expensive drink you have? All around." He said.

"You're a cocky son of a bitch aren't you?" Dante said with a grin as the bartender began to fill up several mugs with the most expensive drink he had.

Everyone drank happily, except for Angelo, Dante, and Mitsurugi; who were all keeping tally of how many shots of Mule Killer they drank.

Several hours passed and now the crowd went from just drinking with friends to watching the drinking contest between Dante and Angelo. Dante gulped down his seventh shot of Mule Killer as did Angelo.

"Seven." Dante said. Several shot later, Angelo couldn't sit straight and was starting to get pale.

Both Dante and Angelo took another shot of the Mule. Dante forced down his drink.

"That's numbers twenty-nine." He slurred.

"I… I give up. Yous drinks way too much." Angelo muddled.

The crowd cheered as Dante stood up victoriously.

"Victory round!" One man shouted.

"Yeah, one more for the road!"

Dante thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, one more. But that's it!" he shouted.

Dante took a shot from Dimici and swallowed it down. He slammed the shot glass down on the table and held his hands up high with a triumphant grin. Just then, his eyes close and then he fell to the ground with a large thump. Everyone gasped aloud when he did. Just then, a screech came from a woman in the group.

"Dante!" Shouted a lady in green garb as she ran forward to check on him.

"I'm fines. Sheesh, why do you have to complain all the time Mina?" Dante muttered.

"Someone help me with him!" she said aloud. Mitsurugi was walked up next to her.

"I'll help." He said.

Mina glanced at the man.

"You're the one from the bar the other night." She said.

"Yes I am." He replied.

He boosted Dante up and set him on his shoulder and Mina took Dante's claymore. Both of them slowly inched their way out the doorway.

When they finally came out of the bar, Dante begin to mutter a lot.

"Did I win?" He asked.

"Yes." Mitsurugi said.

"Ha! Now that smug bastard has to pay for everything!"

Mitsurugi laughed at Dante's antics.

"What is he talking about?" Mina asked.

"It would be better if he told you."

Talim was talking with some guy that Dante couldn't see all that well due to his blurry vision. She was twirling her fingers and giggling and the man was laughing with her.

"That bartender better make me the record holder… Hey there's Talim. Hey! Talim guess what! I won!" Dante bellowed, and then let his head hang down. Talim turned around and looked at Dante with a slight hint of disgust. The man she was talking with peered at him for a second then smiled widely.

"Dante? Dante is that you?!" The man asked. Dante lifted his head up to see who was addressing him.

"It is you! Haha! Look at you! You like your going to pass out! How much did you drink?"

"To much Melach… Melach?" Dante focused his eye and peered at the man in front of him.

"Melach!" He said and he shot from Mitsurugi's arm and drunkenly hugged his friend.

"Long time no look buddy!" Dante slurred.

"Yeah, it has been a long time."Melach said, trying to push Dante off of him, "Can you let go now?"

Dante let go off Melach and fell to the ground. Melach sighed.

"Wow, I never thought I'd say this, but Dante drinks way too much."

"He drank a mug of Mule Killer and then preceded with thirty more shots." Mitsurugi informed him.

"Is he trying to kill himself?!" Melach blurted.

"Let's take him back to Rothion's house." Talim said.

Mina nodded and Mitsurugi picked Dante off the ground and slumped him over his shoulder.

"I can hold that if you want." Melach offered to help Mina.

"Okay." She said and handed him Dante's claymore.

They all moved through the bustling festival life that now plagued the city at night and slowly, but surely, made their way to Rothion's home; occasionally pulling Dante off to the side to allow him to throw up.

-=-=-=-=-

* * *

It was very late before Maga's group and Kilik's group had devised a new plan and left the infirmary for Rothion's house. It was decided that Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi will accompany Maga and his group to better the chance of accomplishing their ultimate goal to save humanity. During their time in Rothion's home, Maga, Link, and Raine learned so much more about Soul Edge. Its dark past, how it came to be, and the mass damages it has befallen upon his friends. Now, the entire group were in the guest room. Link, Maga, Raine and Kilik were sitting in chairs while Xianghua was asleep on the bed and Maxi was getting much needed rest on a cot that was made as comfortably as possible.

"It's been four years since we thought to have destroyed it. But recently, as you know, Fragments of the evil blade have been popping up everywhere. The cruel followers of Soul Edge have gathered once again, and to our knowledge, now the dread pirate is involved in this as well." Kilik muttered quietly.

"Tell us more about Soul Caliber." Link said.

"Soul Caliber, as I have said earlier, is the sister sword too Soul Edge. Just as Soul Edge is evil, Soul Caliber is good. Xianghua wielded it and shattered Soul edge with it all those years ago. But it disappeared, along with Soul Edge. That is what made us believe that it was truly all over. But now

Soul Edge has resurfaced without Soul Caliber along with it. We believe that if we were to find Soul Caliber, we will have a positive chance of destroying Soul Edge." Kilik finished.

"Do you think Xianghua could summon it somehow? She could have some sort of spiritual link with it." Raine suggested. Kilik shook his head and looked at Xianghua; who was still fast asleep.

"We've tried that. I have a theory about it as well. You know that everything happens for a reason. What if Xianghua was not to keep Soul Caliber after she supposedly destroyed Soul Edge? What if she was just a messenger, and not the receiver, of the holy weapon?" Kilik asked.

"What do you mean?" Maga questioned. Maga had been listening intently ever since Kilik began his story of Soul Edge. For once, he was concerned about the quest he had started and worse, he was twice as worried of what could come of his friends should they fail.

"What if someone else was destined for Soul Caliber?" Raine asked.

"Exactly what I mean." Kilik said.

"So who would be the true wielder of Soul Caliber then?" Maga asked.

"If I knew that, then this conversation would have never happened." Kilik said.

Everyone sat in thought for a long time. Thinking of how important it is to find Soul Caliber. Suddenly heavy thumps could be heard from out the room.

"I can't believe how heavy he is." Grunted an unfamiliar voice.

"I wouldn't know." Said another unfamiliar voice.

"That's because you didn't carry him all the way from that bar." The voice said back.

Just then, Rothion opened the door to the guest room and held it ajar for two men; the samurai and someone who looked vaguely familiar to specific, carrying in Dante; and for Talim and Mina, who were carrying his claymore.

Maga's eyes widened in worry and he jumped up from the bed to help them out with his drunken brother. He got under Dante's arm so he could support his weight and dragged him over to the bed.

"What the hell happened to him?" Maga asked.

"He drank too many Mule Killers." Said the samurai.

Maga and Mitsurugi carefully laid Dante on the bed.

"Leave it too Dante to get drunk and have to be dragged around town." Raine said.

"I won." Dante muttered.

"What is he talking about?" Raine asked.

"It's a long story; but for now, I will take my leave. Make sure he still remembers to fight me tomorrow. I look forward to his challenge." Mitsurugi said as he turned to the door way.

"Thank you for your help." Talim said to the samurai as he left.

He looked at her and nodded, then swiftly left the home of Rothion.

"Maga?" the other man who had helped with Dante asked unsurely.

Maga looked at the man and raised his eyebrow. The man didn't look familiar to him at all, so how did he know his name?

"How do you know my name?" he asked. The man just smiled widely and pointed to himself.

"You don't remember me? I may have been eight years, but you have to at least remember this smile." He said. Maga consciously shook his head in disagreement to the man's statement.

"Still don't remember?" He asked, and then faked a frown.

"It's Melach, you dumbass." Dante rudely slurred.

"Melach? Really?" Maga asked as he looked at the man more closely, " Woah! I can't believe it! What are you doing here? Last I heard, you were going too Greece to become a sculptor. I barely recognize you, especially with that beard your growing."

Melach laughed at Maga.

"You're still the same as you ever were. I grew older, it's natural." Melach began, " And I did become a sculptor, just like I have always wanted."

"That's great!"

"So why are you and your brother here in Athens? Just for the tournament?"

"We're looking for an evil sword called Soul Edge." Raine said.

"Oh really? That must be fun. Anyways, Listen, I've got to go, my friends must be worried." He said.

"You have friends?" Dante blurted out.

"Yes, unlike you, I'm nice to people." Melach said to Dante, "Anyways, I'm going. It was great to see you again, and come visit me sometime!" He said with a laugh

"Thank you for helping us with Dante." Talim said.

"Your welcome, Maybe you can tell me more about your god sometime." He said and waved to everyone, " Bye." And with that, he left.

"Bye!" Dante yelled happily, waking Xianghua. She jumped from the bed in surprise and hit the floor with a loud thump and Mina began laughing at her.

"Owww. What did you do that for?!" She yelled to no one in particular. She gazed down at the bed she was just sleeping on and saw Dante; lying down with his head tilted back, blankly gazing at her.

"Uhm…Who is that aaannnd how long has he been there?" She asked.

"That's Dante. My drunk brother." Maga said.

"Don't forget dumb!" Mina chimed in.

"I'm not dumb! But I am pretty drunk" Dante chuckled making Maga sigh.

"I think it's time we get some sleep." Kilik said as he stood from his chair.

"Yea, that's a good idea." Raine agreed.

Everyone got ready for bed, making their cots and changing into their sleep-wear. It was going to be very cramped in the guest room that night.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-J-=-=-=-=-=

In the dead of the night, when everyone was lastly dreaming away, someone stood at the window of the guest room. She whispered to a raven that perched itself onto its hand and with deathly silence, it flew above Dante and landed on top of his bag that was placed across the room. It held something in it's beak, something metallic. It slipped the metallic object into Dante's bag, making sure that it landed into a pocket of a pair of slops he had packed. The raven flew back to it's master, who grinned with satisfaction. With a twinkle of star light, the assassin was gone.

**I liked this chapter. I think it may be my favorite chapter yet! I recently realized that in most of my chapters really sway far from the story. I've also come to realize a lot of other stories do as well.**

**But WOW! 30 shots! That's inhuman! I realize how ridiculous that sounds. But I wanted to add some unrealism to that part. Because in reality, that would more then possibly kill some body. I think that even heavy drinkers can only handle 16 or 17 shots. Anyways, Mitsurugi happens to think Dante will run away from his fight. He won't , but you know how nutty that samurai can get! Always challenge this and challenge that. I also just realized that we haven't brought Cassandra back. Jen will explain why in the next chapter, though it is obvious. But yes, the plot thickens. Any ways, Read and Review!**

**I'll just have to twiddle my thumbs and sing like butters until you come back to read my next chapter.**


	11. Ch 11:A worsening Nightmare, Softer Side

**Jess: Loo loo loo… Oh hey! You're back! Cool. Let's get started!**

_**Jen: You didn't put up the disclaimer yet.**_

**Jess: Huh? Oh, right. I just don't feel like it.**

_**Jen: You're so lazy.**_

**Jess: But I'm good looking.**

_**Jen: You go that right**_

**Jess: Wait, what?**

_**Jen: We do not own Namco or Nintendo and almost all characters that follow are fictional and any names related are just coincidence and it's your fault.**_

**Jess:…..**

**Jen: what?**

**Jess: Are you hitting on me?**

* * *

_He was in pitch darkness, just like every night this past week. Sweating profusely and waiting for an attack. The only difference this time was he had no weapon. He looked around, as if to expect someone but instead, a body falls out of nowhere. He walks up and turns the bloody body. He lets out a gasp of horror as he discovers who had fell. It was his own brother, cut, torn, and mangled; but he looked very different. His hair was longer and black, he was older, and he had grown taller. And he was growing a beard. He was wielding some weird crystalline sword as well._

' _Maga! Maga don't die! Please don't die!'_

_Another voice. It was some woman's voice. She came from the darkness and slid down next to her friend and cradled his limp body. Her hair was long, past her waist. She looked so familiar to him, but he couldn't tell who it was. She cried over her fallen companion, her tears falling down onto his bloody face. Then she turned her head and looked at the man who stood before her._

'_You monster! You killed him!' she yelled._

'_I didn't,' he began, then he let out a gasp when he looked back down at his hands. He was holding a weapon glowing with an evil aura and was covered in blood. He slowly turned and walked away._

'_Come on! Turn around! Help them! Why can't I do anything?!' he cried inside._

'_It is my will.' spoke an ominous voice._

_He looked down to where the voice had come from. It was coming from the sword!_

'_What are you? Let me go!'_

'_You are my vessel. My puppet. You will bend to my every whim and I will be your instrument of death.'_

'_You Bastard!'_

'_Call me what you will, but I am your master. It is your destiny.'_

'_I'll never be your pawn!' He yelled. He expected an answer, but instead received laughter. A type of laughter that one let's out when he knows he is right, that he had one the battle._

* * *

"No!" Dante yelled as he shot up. For the first time in his life, he was truly afraid. He was petrified. He looked around and saw that no one was around him. He began to panic.

'_Where are they? Where is everyone?' _He thought. Then he heard some laughter come from down the hall.

'_They're already awake…' _he thought, now very relieved. Then he felt something building up inside of him, something very familiar. Realizing what it was, his eyes panned the room for something that was capable of holding liquid. Then his eyes fell down upon an already filled bucket right next to him.

"Perfect." He said as he grasped the bucket and began throwing up inside it. Then the door creaked open and standing in the door way was Mina.

"I thought I heard you awake. I guess I was right!" She exclaimed. She walked over next to Dante, who's face was still buried in the nearly full pale, and plopped down next to him. Dante let out another heave and Mina began to pat him on his back.

"That's right, let it out." She said as she gently rubbed his back. Dante spit the last bit of his sickly fluids into the bucket.

"What the hell happened to me last night?" he whispered, trying to catch his breath.

"You drank a little more then usual and now your paying for it." Mina said. Dante wiped his mouth clean and looked at Mina.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked.

"Well, we just finished eating breakfast. It was pretty good actually." She said, and then Dante gagged and let out another mouth full of what was left of his digestive system.

"You had a lot to drink. You passed out in that bar and that samurai helped me carry you home, along with your friend.. Moloch? Or was it Melik? I can't remember." Mina explained.

"Melach?"

"Yeah! That was his name."

"I don't remember a thing." Dante muttered, looking disappointed in himself.

"I don't blame you." Mina said. She stood up from the bed and dusted off her blouse she was wearing.

This was the first time Dante ever really noticed what she was wearing. She was wearing some sort of light blue Korean battle kimono, decorated with embroidered cherry blossoms and For once, her hair wasn't in the braid that she normally wore, it was let straight down; held together by a green ribbon.

Mina noticed that Dante was staring at her and broke the silence.

"What?" she asked.

Dante blinked and looked at Mina in her brown eyes.

"You look.. Different." He muttered.

"Different how?" She asked, blushing a little on the side.

"Never mind," Dante said and turned his head, "I need some water." Mina looked at him, slightly disappointed with his answer. Then she let out a slight huff and turned towards the door and began to walk out. Dante

"Nice." Dante said aloud, making Mina stop. She and cocked her head around and looked at Dante.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I said nice. You look… nice." He said as he stood up and walked to his bag and fiddled for some clothes. Mina slightly blushed and smiled at Dante.

"Why thank you." She said and swiftly left the room.

Dante watched out of the corner of his eye as she left, and when she finally left the room and shut the door behind her, he let out a deep sigh.

After several minutes of looking for new cloths, he decided upon wearing a brown cloth shirt and a pair of loose black slops. After he changed from his vomit covered clothing, he walked out through the hall way and into the main room; where everyone sat and talked.

"Wow! You're alive!" Maga shouted when he saw his brother enter the room. Everyone sat around in a kind of circle. Maga was sitting criss-crossed on the floor next to Raine, while Kilik sat across from them, meditating. Mina and Xianghua lounged about on the light brown couch that sat against a wall, surrounded by potted plants of all sorts; Maxi and Talim were sitting down in a chair, attempting to read a book they had pulled from a shelf in the guest room, with the help of Rothion.

Dante peered at his brother, trying not to allow the effects of a hangover to take over him, and smiled.

"So what's the plan for today?" He asked no one in particular.

"You don't remember?" Maxi asked, looking from the book.

"No, I don't and what are you doing here?" He asked. The last he saw the dandy pirate was when he was in the competitor's room. He also realized that the monk was there, along with some woman wearing some pink clothing.

"They're coming with us." Raine said. Dante cocked an eye brow.

"What do you mean?"

"They will be accompanying us on our journey." Mina mocked in a slow manner, making Dante's temper slightly build inside of him. But instead of blowing up, he took a deep breath and calmed down; something Raine had taught him to do along tome ago.

"Whatever," He said, turning his head to Kilik, "Just don't look to me to pull your asses out of a pinch."

"We're capable of taking care of ourselves." Kilik replied.

"What am I supposed to do today?" He asked, still clueless of his set arrangement.

"You really don't remember." Maga stated bluntly

"If I did, would I be here?"

"The tournament?" Maga began, raising his arms as if to trigger some sort of memory for Dante, "Mitsurugi? He called you a cry-baby?"

Dante stared blankly at Maga for a moment, trying to recover his lost memories.

"Is.. Is he okay?" Talim whispered to Rothion.

"I'm surprised he is still alive." He replied back.

"Awkward…." Xianghua muttered.

Dante shivered his way to reality and spoke up.

"That's right; I got to kick that cocky bastard's ass today."

"He finally figured it out!" Mina cheered as she stood up and stretched. Dante grumbled something under his breath; which caught her attention.

"Did you say something?" She asked. Dante looked at her for a moment, trying to choose his words wisely.

"I said I'm going out for some fresh air."

Mina giddily skipped up next to him.

"Good, I was going to go for a walk to! I'll come with you." She happily stated. Dante let out a sigh, knowing that if he were to argue; she would still follow him anyways.

"What ever, just don't make me late for that fight." He said. He started to walk out through the front door and Mina followed closely behind.

"Don't worry, I won't!"

"This is going to be a long day." Dante muttered as the two left the household. After they left, Maxi spoke up.

"Is it me, or does it look like Mina has a crush?" He joked. Everyone in the room laughed.

"I can tell this is going to be a fun day already!" Raine exclaimed.

* * *

"So where are we going?" Mina asked impatiently.

"I don't know, I was just going out for some fresh air. I didn't exactly plan on where I was going."

The streets were almost empty due to the people of Athens trying to get good seats to the tournament.

Every now and again, you might have seen a late audience member shuffling away from their home. And some dragged their excited children along. Mina sighed of boredom.

She just couldn't accept the fact that Dante was just going to walk around aimlessly through Athens. Mina looked around for something, anything that would spark interest for her. Then, she spotted something and pointed to it.

"Let's go there!" She suggest enthusiastically and turned to face Dante. He looked to where she was pointing, and saw a floral garden in that direction. Dante frowned slightly and looked at Mina. She was making a pouty face and pleading him with her eyes for them to go there. Dante let out another sigh, something he new he would be doing for a while, and nodded in agreement.

"What ever."

"Yay!" Mina cheered. She grabbed a hold of Dante's hand and tugged him impatiently into the gardens.

There were many different species of plants there. White pedaled flowers the withdrew an amazing smell, pink flowers that seemed to in trance insects, and looming trees that lured birds to build their nests onto their branches. More of Athens signature arts were carved into wall sized stones and small statues that decorated the grounds. Mina marveled at the beauties of the seemingly endless garden of tranquility and spotted a finely crafted wooden bench. She giddily dragged Dante along with her and the two sat down.

"This place is beautiful, don't ya think?" she asked as she crossed her legs and continuously watched the splendor of nature. Dante relaxed into the chair and leaned his head back. All these colors and noises weren't helping his hangover.

"Yea, it looks great." He mumbled and slipped his hands into his pockets. As he relaxed, he let his mind trail off. He began to think of things that truly relax him. Not these botanic gardens, but rather a farm, filled with animals of different sorts.

He thought of how he would put his idea of a connected trough to cut watering the animals in half. How he would train the horses and how he would relax after his hard days work. But then his relaxing thoughts began to stray from serenity, he began to reflect of what had plagued his dreams for the past three weeks. Ever since he laid eyes on those fragments, his dreams were littered with death, an insane knight, and the demonic sword itself. His breathing began to speed up and he felt his mouth dry.

"Are you okay?"

"No." He rasped involuntarily, feeling his lungs begin to tighten.

"What's the matter? Do you feel like your going to throw up again?"

"I… I can't breath.." He said as he felt himself fall. He hit the ground and opened his eyes. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't hear the wind rustle through the trees, he couldn't hear the birds singing, and he couldn't hear Mina shouting at him. She turned him and made him lie down on his back and began shaking him and shouting inaudible questions at him. He felt so constricted, like the world around him was closing in on him.

'_It is my will…'_

Dante felt himself sop breathing and his lungs began to burn. Then he realized his hand was grasping something in his pocket. It felt as if it was searing his skin. He couldn't move, no matter how much he tried. Something supernatural had bound his body together. With what strength and air he had left, he whispered out one word.

"Pocket….."

Mina franticly stuck her hands into Dante's shirt pockets, trying to find something inside of them and found nothing. Dante's vision began to blur, and all light faded. That last thing he saw was Mina staring into his eyes; panic stricken across her face and fear in her eyes.

* * *

' _You are my puppet, I control your very existence. Your very life. You will soon become my new vessel. _

_It is my will…'_

"You won't win…"

"What is he talking about?"

"He must be dreaming about something."

"Is he okay?"

"He's breathing , so I guess he's okay."

'_You will give them to me..'_

"I..Wont listen to….you.."

'_Do as I say!'_

"No…."

'_I am your Master and you will obey me!'_

"No!" Dante yelled. He jerked open his eyes and light swelled in. He was in an unfamiliar bed, in a white room and surrounded by his friends. Maga, Talim, Raine, Link and Kilik were standing next to his bed with worried expressions on their faces.

"Where am I?" He asked.

"You're in the infirmary. You passed out." Talim gently said to him.

"Yea, it was pretty scary, you were muttering to yourself the whole time." Maga said.

"How did I get here?"

"Mina brought you here." Link said, "And before you ask, she's in the waiting room. She's a little shaken up."

Dante stared up at the ceiling and let out a sigh. He picked up his hand and looked at his palm. There was something there that wasn't there before. Some strange red mark was imprinted onto his palm.

"How are you feeling now?" Raine asked in a concerning tone.

"I'm fine. Wait… What time is it?"

"It's very late. And before you ask about it, yes, it's too late for the tournament. You've been disqualified due to failure to participate." Kilik replied.

Dante shot up and glared at no one in particular.

"You've got to be kidding me! Are you serious?" Dante asked.

"He's not lying. You were unconscious for the past eight hours. I tried to get you up, but you wouldn't. You just kept mumbling."

Dante looked at Maga almost hatefully, if not so.

"You didn't try hard enough." He snapped at his brother, making him wince. The annoyances and the angers of the past few weeks were finally catching up to him. He was feeling a sense of rage well up inside him, in a fashion that has never happened to him before. But, instead of doing what everyone was expecting, which was to burst of anger, he remembered his deep breaths. The only thing he was willing to learn to calm himself down.

"When do we leave?" He asked.

"Tomorrow." Kilik said. "We decided that we've stayed here in Athens too long. We need to get a move on with this thing."

"What about the rest of the tournament?"

"Maga's dropped out."

"Okay. I need to sleep…" Dante said and relaxed.

"You don't want to go back to Rothion's house?" Talim asked.

"And sleep on the floor again? No way. I have a feeling that I won't have that pleasure as much on this journey." Dante said with a grin.

"Okay then. We're going to meet in front of Rothion's shop at noon." Link formerly said.

After the group said their good bye's, left, and blow out the lanterns in the room for him, Dante took in a relaxing breath and closed his eyes.

''_Why did I snap at Maga like that? I mean, yeah I was angry, but that is no reason for me to act like that…'_

He heard someone open the door to the infirmary and slowly walk in.

"Who's there?" He asked, tensing up.

"It's just me." A familiar voice said. It was Mina, and when she saw that everyone was leaving, she decided to slip in to talk with him. She re-lit a lantern next to his bed."How are you doing?" she asked him. He scooted himself up and sat with his back against the bed-post.

"I'm doing fine. A little annoyed, but fine." He replied. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, he noticed Mina wasn't wearing the same clothing she had on earlier. She was wearing a red top the covered her breast but didn't cover her midsection and wore some sort of weird skirt that barely covered the side of her thighs.

"That's good. I was afraid you were going to die there for a second." She said, sitting down at the foot of the bed and crossing her legs.

"Heh, I'm glad I didn't." He said, "They said you carried me here…"

"Yea.. It wasn't easy, you know, you're a lot heavier then you look." She chuckled.

Dante looked at her and smiled faintly.

"Thanks.." He said.

"That's something I don't normally see when you're sober." She said as she smiled back. Dante never showed his softer side and for Mina to see it was as rare as finding a needle in a haystack. Dante's mood began to lighten up and he grinned a little more.

"Yeah, you just remember it, because you'll never see it again." He chuckled as he leaned his head back and relaxed.

"It's good to see you're in a nice mood. Maga mentioned that you were kinda pissed off." She said. Dante's smile turned into a slight frown and he looked at Mina.

"Yea.. I probably shouldn't have acted like that." He said. He started to feel remorseful for the way he had treated Maga moments ago.

"Can I ask you something?" Mina asked.

"I suppose so." Dante replied.

"Why don't you show your softer side to anyone?"

"You mean speak my feelings?"

"Sorta, but also why don't you smile as often and why don't you laugh as much?"

"You mean seem happier and nicer?" He suggested. Mina nodded.

"It's a sign of weakness." He bluntly declared.

"So you act tough to show your not weak?" She asked.

Dante thought for a moment. Was he just acting tough? No. He's been this way his entire life. Around his friends, his family, and around strangers. It was just a part of his personality. A trait he never pondered about.

"I know what you're thinking. It's just the way you are, right?" She suggested in question.

Dante let out a sigh and nodded.

"It's just part of my personality…" He replied, now closing his eyes and wondering about other things.

"You know, you'd be less grumpier if you allowed your kinder feelings to flow a bit more."

"So you're suggesting I change? That's easier said then done." He said, still pondering of other, slightly more important things.

"Well, it won't happen over night."

"What ever…" he said. A few moments passed by, with nothing said. He still thought of his dreams he's been having. It was troubling to him, having something call him a puppet of it's whim.

"What's on your mind?" Mina asked him. Dante thought for a moment. Should he tell her about his dreams lately? He just sighed.

"You know, talking to a friend helps. I'll listen." She said, scooting closer to him.

"I know you will. But it's probably nothing." He bluntly stated.

"It's got to be something if it's bothering you." She added.

Dante took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, recalling of everything he remembered of his dreams.

"I've been having these… nightmares recently." He said making Mina snort slightly.

"I thought you said you would listen." He asked. Mina took in a breath and averted all her attention to Dante.

"You're right, I'm sorry.." She apologized. She inched herself next to Dante and leaned against the bedpost with him and laid her head on his shoulder. Dante reconsidered going on with telling Mina about his problems, but decided it was better to talk then bottle it up inside.

"For the past few weeks, ever since I've started this journey, I've been having these dreams. They always start the same, I'm surrounded by darkness, sweat pouring from my skin, and my weapon is raised; as if I'm waiting for someone to attack. After a few moments of that, some knight in azure armor appears before me and starts attacking me with some weird sword. I've never seen one like it… It looks as if its covered in flesh and has an eye in the center of it. It always talks to me. It speaks to me, tells me that I am its puppet, its pawn. It says it's my destiny.. To become its vessel… It's been like that every night, up until last night…" He explained.

"What happened last night?" Mina asked.

"I… I killed Maga… At least, I think it was Maga… But He was older.. And his hair was a different color than it is now…." He thought for a moment, "What could these dreams mean?"

Mina sat still, pondering about what she had just learned. She thought long and hard, focusing of what the right answer should be. But, when she thought she came to a conclusion, she gave up.

"I.. I'm not sure Dante."

Dante sighed. He was hopeful for a suggestion, but he didn't quite expect an answer.

"For the first time of my life…" He began, "I was afraid… For Maga and Raine... For Talim... For you."

Mina smiled a bit and looked at Dante.

"I thought you didn't like me." She said. Dante faced her and cocked an eyebrow.

"Now, if that was true, then I wouldn't be talking to you." He replied. They both laughed a bit and settled down. Dante felt a sort of weight being lifted from his shoulders.

"Hey, mina?"

"Yeah?

"I'll think of being nicer… and thanks for listening." He said as he leaned his head against hers and closed his eyes. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

"Any time…." She replied. She closed her eyes and peacefully fell asleep, snuggling herself up to him. The entire night, the two peacefully slept, dreaming of the other.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-J=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Rothion was lounging about, relaxing and enjoying the happy sounds of his children playing, when he heard a knock at the door. He stood up and walked up to it.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's Cassandra.."

"Oh, well, come on in!" He said as he unlocked the door.

When Cassandra walked in, Pyrhha and Protoklos screamed in delight and ran up to meet their aunt.

"Auntie Cassy!" The two exclaimed in unison as they hugged they're beloved aunt.

"Hey there kiddos! How are you doing?" she replied with a hearty smile, "Hey, can you two go to your rooms for a quick second? I need to talk to your daddy for a moment."

The children replied with noises of dissatisfaction and slowly marched to their rooms. When the children were gone, Cassandra sat down and looked at Rothion solemnly.

"I'm going after her." Was all she said, "And we'll be back, both intact."

"Well..." Rothion began, "There's no way of stopping you… But please, be safe on your travels."

"Did she say where she was going?" Cassandra asked.

Rothion thought for a moment, as if debating whether or not to tell her. But he knew that if he weren't to give her information, she'd aimlessly search for her sister and possibly perish in doing so. He let out a sigh.

"She said she was going East; towards Japan, to get some help from a certain ninja. I'm sure you know who." He said.

Cassandra nodded. She knew well enough whom Sophitia was seeking help from. The demon slayer.. Taki. She was the one who brought Sophitia home, all those years ago when they killed the dread pirate Cervantes. They had believed to have destroyed Soul Edge then. Cassandra stood up and made her way to the door and stopped for a moment.

"I promise. On my life… I will destroy Soul Edge and lift the burden that Sophitia has carried all these years and I will bring her home."

And with that, she left, never looking back.

-=-=-=-=-=--===-=J-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"I wonder why he passed out." Raine thought aloud.

"It's beyond me." Kilik replied.

"It is weird though, he's never done that before." Maga said.

"Maybe it was all that alcohol he drank last night? It might have poisoned him with alcohol sickness." Talim suggested.

"It's possible." Xianghua added.

The group were on their way back from the stables where they had left all their horses for the past week. Maga was especially happy to see Mejaro, it felt like forever since he saw him. So was Raine, she liked the playful personality that Maga's horse had. The only horse that seemed a bit sad was Zero, but Talim had comforted him. They arranged for Melach to take them back to Ben's ranch. They new that it was only going to get dangerous here on out, and they would never forgive themselves if either of the horses were to die.

"At least he's okay." Maga said.

" I'm surprised he didn't go on a rampage when he found out he was too late for the tournament." Raine added. As the group neared Rothion's abode, they spotted a familiar face. It was the samurai, Mitsurugi. He had been waiting in front of Rothion's home for Dante. Kilik was the first to react, raising his staff in a defensive position. The rest of the group followed suit, raising their weapons. Mitsurugi walked to the middle of the road and called out to them.

"Where's the crybaby?" He asked as he walked over to them.

"Why are you here?" Maga asked him.

"I expect a fight with the crybaby. Now that I have answered your question, answer mine." He replied.

"He's not well." Talim explained. Mitsurugi replied with a 'hmph'.

" Then that means I'll be fighting you then." Mitsurugi pointed out; averting his attention to Maga.

"Well, you're wrong. I've dropped out of the tournament. And you won't get a fight from either of us because we're leaving Athens tomorrow." Maga explained.

" You coward." Mitsurugi taunted.

"I'm not afraid of the likes of you!" Maga shouted back.

"Then prove it. Come at me!" Mitsurugi exclaimed, unsheathing his katana and settling into his battle position.

Maga was just about to charge at him, when Link stopped him.

"It would be wiser if you weren't hurt Maga." He whispered to him, "We can't have you in the infirmary recovering from broken bones."

Maga lowered his weapon and nodded. Link was right; he getting injured would only slow their quest to a halt.

"Fine then, I'll just wait until you're ready to fight me!" Misturugi huffed and sheathed his sword.

"What does that mean?" Xianghua asked.

"I think it means he won't leave us alone until her gets what he wants." Kilik whispered to her.

And it was true. Mitsurugi planned to follow them until he got the challenge he so rightfully earned.

"He's not coming with us!" Maga exclaimed.

"And are you going to stop me?" Mitsurugi asked, now standing next to the group. Maga quickly turned around and met the gaze of the unstoppable warrior and gulped.

"Uhh… no?" he sheepishly replied.

" Good. I will get my battle. Whether it means following you to gates of hell."

"Fine then. Do what ever the fuck you want. We're going after Soul Edge." Maga said in an attempt to scare the samurai away. But instead of seeing fear in the samurai's face, he got something he never would have guessed. Mitsurugi smiled and laughed.

"You think that sword scares me? It wouldn't be the first I've been on a quest for it."

The group mentally protested Mitsurugi following them along on their journey, but out of fear of him murdering all of them, they allowed it. After all, they couldn't save the world and all its inhabitants if they were dead.

* * *

**Hmm.. I'm not sure what to say… Oh wait, yes I am! Dante and Mina sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G. **

**Uhm… okay, was that a bit too childish? I new from the start of the story, no even before hand, that Dante and Mina were hooking up. No matter what. For two reasons. One, I liked the idea of it, they were a total match. Maybe not with their personalities or anything like that, but Dante needed someone to warm up too, and Mina and Cassandra were the only ones who were on the list. Sophitia's taken, I hate Cassandra, Talim's too young, Amy's also too young, Cassandra's annoying, Setsuka is a Japanese bitch, I really dislike Cassandra and Taki's a ninja. And secondly because who cares about Hwang? Really? Sure he had a good role in Soul Blade. But he just didn't catch on. For those of you that don't know, he was supposedly going to marry Mina, but I was like, "Hell naw! He's not important enough! No wang chung in my story!" Namco easily replaced him with that Redhead and hid his moveset as Assassin in Sc2. That's just how unimportant he is. [Being a douche about certain characters is fun!] In fact, I don't even think I'm going to mention him at all in this story. But I might, to understand Mina's past a bit more. But who knows eh?**

**Anyways, I would like to address something. I was looking on my Fanfic profile and was exploring all the tabs on it. And I hit traffic and saw story traffic and I was like " Huh, I wonder what that is" and so I click it. I look at it and it show those statistics of how many visitors I've gotten and how many hits I have. I was like, oh that's cool, I got 30 hits and 12 visitors. And then I looked at it more and saw the individual story hits, and even though I only have one story, I click it anyways and then it shows me how many people have read each chapter. I laughed when I saw that the first chapter had 15 visitors and then the readers started to decline. And then I saw something. I saw that NO ONE HAS EVER READ CHAPTER 4! WTF? Don't you feel lost when you skip a chapter? I know I do. That was real weird for me to see. I was like, "Wait huh? No one read the 4****th**** chapter? Well, that's rude." And so then here I am ranting about it. But oh well, if you don't want to read the 4****th**** chapter then fine, I'm not going to make you. Any ways, I've began t notice how much more intelligent my chapters have been getting, meaning I've somehow managed to put more detail in. It's weird, I compared this story to one of my older ones and my writing has really improved. But enough about me, what did you think of the chapter? Review it! **

_**Hey everyone! I'm still here! Did you read "A Hylian's Tale of Souls and Swords" yet? You better get started on it then! Anyways, The beginning part, you know, the disclaimer section, was my idea. I thought it was funny and so did Jess. Especially the' are you hitting on me?" part. That was hilarious.**_

_**Any who, what did you think about my sections? I saw that Jess really started putting detail into everything and so I'm sweating trying to do the same. It wasn't easy, choosing the right words to describe anything. The stable scene was my idea, because I was like," what happened to the horses?"**_

_**And Jess said "Ummmmm local stables?" so I sighed and decided to work on that unplanned step. I mean, who could forget about the horses?! Sometimes Jess can be so dimwitted, but then again, I guess he has his moments. I called him dummy for forgetting the horses. Well, that's all I have to say!**_

_**R&R! (I'm using the acronym just to get on Jess' nerves, LOL)**_


	12. Ch 12:Early Morning, Rough Evening

**Jen: You know I was kidding right?**

**Jess: I thought so, but wow! You sounded serious!**

**Jen: I have that skill.**

**Jess: I wish I had supernatural powers like that.**

**Jen: I'm sure you will.**

**Jess: Any ways here's the disclaimer. We do not own Namco or Nintendo, Soul Calibur or Legend of Zelda. But this plot is ours. And according to Jen, she owns anyone at Street Fighter.**

**Jen: True dat.**

* * *

_Here he was again. Pitch darkness. But something felt different… He wasn't afraid. He wasn't short of breath and he didn't have his sword .But something was in his hand. Something smooth to the touch. He looked to his right and saw a woman standing next to him. She wore a brown cloth top and a brown cloth skirt that covered her front and back side but not the sides of her legs. She wore a brown colored headband that had several different designs on it and her brown hair was in a braided ponytail, just like she always wore._

'_You know, talking helps….' She said to him_

'_I do now.' He replied back_

'_Then what's on your mind?'_

'_I'm not sure… Something doesn't seem right.'_

'_What do you mean?'_

'_I feel like we're being watched.'_

'_By what?'_

'_Something is following us…'_

'_What is?'_

'_I don't know..' He replied._

'_What ever it is, we'll get through it… together.' She said as she clutched his hand._

'_I hope you're right….'_

-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-

Dante woke up on his side, his arm wrapped around something. He slowly opened his eyes saw exactly what his arm was around. It was Mina. Her face was inches away from his, slowly breathing in and out, and her arms were wrapped around him. He tried to move, but when he did, she tightened her grip around him. Dante quietly sighed to himself. There was no way he was going to break her hold on him without waking her up, and that's something he didn't want to do. He just looked at Mina, watching her as she blissfully slept. She was smiling, dreaming a dream of happiness. Dante just laid there, watching her sleep, thinking of what she could possibly be dreaming. Suddenly, Mina's face went that of serenity, to something of panic. Her smile faded into a frown, and her eyebrows tensed. She began to move around, and her legs slightly began to kick.

"No…." She mumbled. Dante didn't know what to do. Should he wait for her nightmare to pass, or should he wake her up? She began shaking her head and her kicks were now getting more violent.

"Don't touch me…. Help…. Someone help…." She muttered quietly. Dante thought for a moment and decided what he would do. He leaned in closer to her.

"Don't worry." He whispered, " I'll help."

"Get them off of me…"

"Get what off of you?"

"These men… They're hurting me…. Get them away from me…"

"Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." He whispered again. After a few moments passed, Mina began to calm down and Dante let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Dante….." She mumbled again. Dante closed his eyes and relaxed. He felt at peace knowing that Mina would sleep well; he put his arm back around her waist and held her firmly. He had a feeling that today was going to be a good day.

* * *

"Hey Maga, wake up. We're leaving today, remember? I want to get an early start."

Maga inhaled quickly through his nose and opened his eyes groggily. Raine was standing above him, politely nudging his shoulder. In response, he turned and lay down in his side, throwing his pillow over his head. Raine let out a huff and tapped Maga with her foot. Maga sleepily swiped at her leg, like a child would when they didn't feel like getting up; which is exactly what he was acting like.

"Get up!" She urged him, giving him a light kick in his kidney area. (**A/N: truly a painful feeling.)**

Maga turned back onto his back and stared at Raine tiredly.

"What?" He asked. Raine smacked herself on the forehead and let out a sigh.

"We're leaving, remember? Come on, get up and get moving." She demanded.

Maga nodded sleepily and stood up from his cot on the floor. He let out a yawn and ruffled his hair. "Good morning." He said, smiling at Raine. Raine couldn't help but smile back.

"Good morning," She giggled, "Now come on, everyone else is waiting."

Maga shuffled to the far wall and picked up his and his brother's bags; knowing that Dante slept in the infirmary overnight. He turned to his left and took his sword, which was leaning up against the wall and hefted it up on his shoulder and turned towards Raine and the doorway. (**A/N: and and and and and.)**

"Well, let's go then!" He happily exclaimed as the two marched out of the room and into the hall.

When they entered the living room, he saw that everyone was already packed, ready to continue on with their quest of salvation. Kilik was standing next to Maxi, leaning up against the wall and had his eyes closed. Maxi was sitting on the floor, resting himself on his knee. Link was sitting up against a wall as well, keeping a close eye on Mitsurugi, who was also sitting up against the wall. Xianghua and Talim were sitting on the couch, yawning and stretching, and Rothion was also awake, to send the group off with some provisions. Maga also noticed that Mina wasn't there.

"Where's Mina?" He asked. Xianghua just shrugged and let out yet another yawn.

"We think she might have liked Dante's idea of sleeping in her own bed at the infirmary, so she might have stayed there and pretended to be sick." Link said.

"That definitely sounds like something she would do." Maga chuckled.

"Let's go get them if we want to get an early start." He suggested.

Everyone agreed, getting up from their comfortable positions and saying their good bye's to Rothion.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay here, Rothion." Talim said.

"Any time, be safe on your journeys." He replied. Link gave him some Rupees for his troubles and Rothion handed him several loafs of bread and some bladder bags full of water.

"I can't believe you're serious about following us around." Maga said to Mitsurugi, whom had been quiet the entire time.

"I don't joke about a challenge." He replied.

-==-=-J=-=-=-=

The sun was just beginning to rise and the birds greeted it with their beautiful songs of morning, the streets of Athens were beginning to fill with the business of people and their daily agendas. The group just arrived at the infirmary and was trying to decide on who wakes up Dante and finds Mina. They made Mitsurugi wait outside.

"Well, I don't know him well enough." Maxi said.

"Me either." Xianghua and Kilik protested in unison.

"He's already a little pissed at me." Maga said.

" The last time I woke him up, he was pretty mad." Raine said.

"I don't really want to get on his bad side." Link said.

"What about Talim?" Xianghua suggested.

Everyone looked at her. She was quietly playing with her braids, minding her own business, and when they mentioned her name, she looked around at everyone and saw they were looking at her.

"Okay, I'll go and get them… uh.. which rooms are they in?" She sheepishly asked.

"Uhmmm…." Maga thought aloud, " Now that I think about it, I haven't the slightest clue."

"All of the rooms are down the hall there… I suppose I can help Talim out." Raine said, now realizing that she couldn't remember which room Dante was in and saw how many doorways there were in the infirmary.

"Thank you." Talim said. The group slowly made their way down the hall, trying to decide which room Dante was staying in.

"I'm pretty sure he was in that room at the end of the hall." Link said.

"No, that was where we were stuck at." Maxi replied.

"Was it this one?" Kilik suggested, pointing at a door.

"No, that one wasn't it." Xianghua said.

"Maybe this one?' Raine asked, pointing at another door.

"This is going to take forever!" Maga exclaimed.

Just then, a door opened up behind them, and out walked Dante.

He stretched and let out a loud yawn and eyed the group walking away from him.

"Hey guys. Looking for me?" he asked aloud. Everyone turned around with surprise.

"There you are! Now all we need to do is find Mina." Raine shouted.

"She's in this room. Why are you looking for us so early?" He asked groggily.

"We need to get an early start, we've lost a lot of ground already." Kilik said.

"Well, you can wake her up, I need to find an out house." He said.

"Ugh, you can't hold it?" Raine asked.

"I have been holding it, all night, and I have to go now." He replied.

"There's one right outside." Link said.

"Thanks." Dante said, rushing down the hallway.

"He really needed to go." Maxi proclaimed.

"Yeah." Maga added.

"I guess we should wake up Mina." Talim suggested.

" I guess so." Raine said. She and Talim walked into Mina's room while the rest of the group waited outside.

_-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-  
She was sitting on a bench in the middle of a beautiful forest, animals were peacefully living their lives and water was trickling down a creek bed close by. She was surrounded by tranquility, when suddenly, the ground began to shake and someone called out her name._

'_Mina, get up.'_

'_Leave me alone, can't you see I'm relaxing?' she asked aloud._

'_We're leaving, get up, please?' asked another voice._

Mina snapped open her eyes and wondered where she was and who had woken her up from her peaceful dream. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and looked around. Raine and Talim were standing next to her, shaking her shoulder.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake… Hey, where's Dante?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, he went to use the out house. Why do you ask?" Talim responded.

"Oh… No reason." She chirped.

"Well, come on. We're going." Raine said. Mina nodded and got up from the bed. She stretched her arms up in the air and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well then, " She said, " Lets go." The three left the room and joined up with everyone else in the main lobby.

"Sleep well?" Link asked.

"Wonderfully, you?" Mina responded.

"It was better then sleeping outside."

Mina smiled for a second and then realized something. She had forgotten something, something she felt naked without.

"Did any of you happen to bring my…" She began but was cut off by link.

"I have it right here." He said. He reached in his pouch and produced Mina's zambatou.

"Oh thank goodness…." She sighed in relief as he handed it to her.

Maxi, Kilik, and Xianghua stared at Link in disbelief, and he noticed it too.

"Magic." He said with a smile.

Just then, a clash of metal could be heard outside and the group rushed out to see what had caused the all familiar voice of battle.

"Oh man… Gotta find that out house soon." Dante whined. He rushed outside and franticly looked around. After a few moments, he spotted a box-like shed with 'out house' written on it. He quickly ran in and did his business. Sighing with relief, he finished up and calmly walked out.

"Had to cry again?" asked a voice. Dante's eye twitched, due to a bottled up rage that was meant for one person, and quickly turned to his left and spotted the cause of all his anger.

"You missed our fight." Mitsurugi said. He had Dante's sword hefted up on his shoulder and stared at him with emotionless eyes.

"I couldn't help it." Dante shot back at him.

"How would you like to end it now then?" Mitsurugi asked, tossing Dante's sword at his opponent. Dante caught the hilt of his blade and gripped it firmly. He grinned at Mitsurugi.

"You know your going to loose." Dante said.

"A pathetic revelation from a cry baby means nothing." Mitsurugi retorted.

"Let's make this a bit more interesting then. If I win, you have to buy me a bottle of the best saki Athens has to offer." Dante said. Mitsurugi smiled at this new addition to his challenge.

" And what if I win?" He asked.

"I'll buy you one." Dante said.

Mitsurugi smiled more now.

"You have a deal." He said.

"You know this isn't the arena anymore. I'm not following any rules." Dante said. Mitsurugi nodded and unsheathed his blade.

"Well then, let's get started!" Dante yelled and charged at Mitsurugi. Dante brought his sword down, hoping to bring it down on Mitsurugi's head' thus impaling him, but his hopes were severed when his blade met Mitsurugi's; making a loud clang. Mitsurugi pushed up with his sword, making Dante lift up a little, and kicked him hard in the stomach. He brought his blade sideways, aiming for Dante's neck. Dante quickly brought his sword to his side, deflecting the possible Decapitation. (**A/N: Decapitatiooooooooon!)**

"Stop it!" Yelled a familiar voice. Both of the warriors turned their attention to whom had demanded them to stop their battle. It was Link, followed by the rest of the group, standing in front of the infirmary.

"Why should I?" Dante asked, now beginning to stand up. He was breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush he had gotten from the quick fight.

"You're no use dead!" Link exclaimed and then looked at Mitsurugi, " I knew I shouldn't have taken my eyes off you."

"What do you mean?" Dante asked. Maga ran up to him and stood between him and Mitsurugi.

"It's complicated. Just go with it." He said. Dante still had further questions but Maga told him to wait.

" We've already lost valuable time." Kilik reminded them after the two had settled down from their skirmish, " We need to hurry up. Soul Edge is getting stronger by the minute." Dante let out a sigh and nodded in agreement.

"At least I won't be seeing this asshole anymore." Dante said, pointing to Mitsurugi. Maga looked at Dante in a questionable way.

"I'm not going to see him any more, am I?" he asked.

"Well… about that.." Maga began.

"No. Hell no. Hell fucking no." Dante started, shaking his head and waving his arms near his waist to make a statement.

"He is NOT coming with us."

"It's not that we're letting him, it's that he's following us." Maga said.

"What the fuck for!?" Dante shouted, looking at the Samurai who was now wearing a cocky smirk.

"It's because we didn't fight him in the tournament."

Dante let out an angry sigh.

" You're kidding right?"

"I wish I were, brother."

Dante turned and looked at Mitsurugi.

"There are other people to fight you fucking idiot! Why the hell do you HAVE to follow us?"

"I will get my challenge, whether I have to follow you to the gates of hell."

"Ahhh!!!" Dante yelled in frustration.

"Hey, calm down." Maga said.

"I am not going to put up with his fucking bullshit! There's already what, nine people in this group, and now we have to go look for Soul Edge with his cocky ass? Hell no!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, we aren't feeding him." Maga said, trying to calm his brother down.

"I fucking hate him. I have such a hate for him that killing him would not satisfy me." Dante exclaimed.

"Hah! If you think that's bad new, you should ask about the horses!" Mitsurugi yelled. Dante looked at Maga.

"What does he mean?"

"Well… we aren't taking them, we're walking here on out."

"This day just keeps getting better and better." Dante said. After a few moments of taking deep breaths, trying to find his inner peace, Dante calmed down a bit and tried to look on the brighter side if this out come.

"Well…" He said out loud, " At least I have a drinking buddy."

Everyone let out a sigh. They all began walking towards the gates of Athens, they walked through the market one last time, they walked past the Shrine of Hephaestus, and finally walked out of the city of Athens. They all took one last look at the beautiful city in silence. The sun was finally up and the normal day life of Athens resumed it's routine. It wasn't until they were well away from Athens that Maxi broke the silence.

"Hey wait, what makes you think I wouldn't make a good drinking buddy?"

* * *

**Wow. This was by far the shortest chapter of anything I have ever written. But there was A LOT in it, if you get what I'm saying. Also, Brutal Legend reference in my author note. It's uhh.. weird(?) that I'm letting Mitsurugi just follow them. But eh, it's comical. Dante Hates him, so he follows them. I have a feeling this is going to get funnier now.**

**And Dante DOES have a softer side. Huh, I didn't know. Wasn't that just fluffy of him to help Mina out in her dreams? I think he might have a thing for Minaaaaaa~~ (And yes he does, but the romance is just building for him and Mina.) Any who, I have a feeling that Maga and Raine might be warming up to each other too. You might not see it, but I sure do. Any ways, Here's Jen's summery. Read and Review. **

_**Hey guys and girls! I'm sorry this chapter was so short. It's hard to get everyone together and get them going. You know, resuming their quest and other stuff. It was also hard to really think of anything to happen in between the times they woke up and the time they all left. That's why this is such a short chapter. I'd just call this a filler chapter I suppose. I promise that Jess and I will have a longer chapter for you all next time. R&R!**_


	13. Author Intervene

Hey everyone! Sorry I for the delay, but ive been having to deal with some personal stuff right now. So I haven't really been writing lately. And on top of that, I have writers block. But on the up side, Jen has offered to a filler chapter for everyone. According to her, its going to be fast paced, fast action and pretty plot thickening. She also said that its almost finished. Anyways, like I said, sorry for the huge delay.


	14. Ch 13: An Awkward Meeting Between Two

_**Hey! Jen here. I'm going to put up the opening disclaimer this time. So here it is!**_

_**We do not own Soul Calibur or Legend of Zelda in any form or way.**_

_**Hmmm.. Not as exciting as I thought.**_

_**Anyways, Jesse agreed to let me write my own whole chapter! That's cool right? **_

"That sounds amazing! I never thought that it was like that."

"It'll be worth the wait, the sea breeze blowing against your face, the warm sun above…."

The group had been traveling for several days now, wishing they had the luxuries of staying in the comfortable setting of Athens. On this particular hot day, they found themselves trekking through a patch of forest, sweating from the excessive walking, fatigued by the increasing heat the sun was leaking down upon them. Even the forest creatures seemed scarce because of it. The birds took their shelter in the comfortable shade that towered their nests and the forest critters scurried into their homes under the ground. Ahead of the group was Maga. He had taken his shirt off and hung it over his shoulder, using it as a towel to wipe the sweat from his brow every now and again. He and Maxi were in a deep conversation about the overzealous lives of being a captain of his own ship. Link didn't seem to mind the heat, though every now and again, he took sips of water from one of the bladder-bags that Rothion had given each of them. Raine and Talim were happily walking next to each other, pointing out forest creatures that they pass by and watching the natural beauty of nature. Kilik had to be the most fatigued of them all, carrying not only his traveling gear, but having to carry Xianghua on his back, because she had complained about the heat; going as far as saying she 'wouldn't go a step further in this damn heat'.

Mina was in her more revealing brown attire, keeping cool from the heat and Dante was wearing a sleeveless open vest with a pair of black dyed slops. Dante was a little less annoyed since Mitsurugi had decided to follow them for a stupid reason. His hate towards him was like a primal rage that a cat and a dog would share towards one-another and he still held a grudge with the man who had insulted him days ago.

' _He thinks he's invincible, but I'll beat him, it may not be today or tomorrow, but I'll make sure that I'm the one who kicks his cocky ass first.'_ He always assured himself.

He turned around and looked at Mitsurugi.

"You're still here?" He mocked, " I thought you would have given up on this by now."

Mitsurugi looked at him without even a hint of emotion.

" I'm going to get my fight, whether you like it or not."

"If you don't die of old age first" Dante argued with him.

"You'd die of stupidity before death comes to claim me."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that asshole."

"Cry baby."

"I'm not a damn cry baby! Why the hell do you keep calling me that!"

Maga overheard the conversation and started laughing.

"I think this is going to happen everyday until he leaves." He said.

" Or until they die." Maxi added.

Link walked over to the two and stopped their arguing before it escalated into something bigger.

"Will you two just stop? It's way to hot for this bull shit." He said. Everyone, except Mitsurugi; whom just glared, looked at him in bewilderment. They never heard Link curse before, so they were surprised.

"I think we all just need a break, this heat is getting to us." Kilik suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement and quickly found a shady spot under a massive Maple tree. After setting everything (And Xianghua) down, Kilik; along with everyone else, leaned against the tree and relaxed. Or, at least tried too. Dante was the only one who couldn't relax. Mitsurugi's presence just made him uneasy. He just flat out didn't trust him. Link sat in between the two, to ensure that they didn't break out into another fight like the one in Athens.

"Ahh… This is comfortable…" Raine sighed as she happily leaned up against the tree and crossed her legs. Maga sat down next to her and eased himself down onto the grass next to her.

"It sure is." Maga added.

"How much further until we get to another town?" Xianghua asked, knowing well enough that they hadn't the slightest clue.

"You already know the answer to that." Maxi yawned.

"I wonder if she really does." Maga muttered.

"What was that?" Xianghua asked, still standing.

"Uhhh, nothing." Maga awkwardly replied.

"It better have been nothing." She huffed.

"It is too bad the wind gods aren't gracing us with their breath of life…" Talim sighed.

"Yea, I could use a nice breeze right about now." Mina chirped.

Dante stared off passed the forest and spotted an open field and on that open field was a small establishment of sorts. A caravan, a gypsy train, was passing by.

"Hey Maga, look." He said, pointing at the settled mobile homes, "It's one of those gypsy circus things, like the one that came to our village a few years ago."

"Yea, I see it… Is that fire coming from it?" Maga asked, now focusing on one of the tents on wheels. Everyone averted their attention directly at the caravan. Maga was right, one of the wagons were indeed on fire. The entire group stood up and ran; on instinct, towards the establishments.

As they neared, they saw havoc, rise from within the circle that the gypsy train formed.

"What the hell….." Muttered Maga. Just then, a mother and her child ran from one of the wagons, being chased by a man-sized lizard, wielding a sword and shield. Dante's opened wide, staring in disbelief.

"What the fuck is that?" He exclaimed. The lizard stopped and stared at the group. It made a loud screeching sound and was soon surrounded by many more of it's kind.

"That's not a good sign.." Link said, unsheathing his sword. Everyone else did the same, bringing their weapons up, waiting for the lizards to attack. A blue and green colored lizard stepped forth from the small group and eyed the group. He made a raspy hiss and pointed at the Maga and his group.

"What do you think it wants?" Xianghua asked.

"I don't know…" Maxi replied. Talim stepped forth in front of the group.

"You… are human? Why are you attacking these people? Please, stop." She asked.

"Talim! Be careful. These Lizard-Men don't look like they want to talk." Mina demanded. The main Lizard tilted his head sideways and stared at Link. He made a loud hiss at him.

"I think it's talking to you Link." Dante said. Mitsurugi stood next to him, anxiously waiting for the reptilian monsters to attack. The lizard made yet another hiss at Link, but Link didn't respond. The head Lizard Man made a loud screech and all of the lizards charged at the group with their weapons raised.

One of the faster lizard men reached Talim before she or anyone else could react and lunged at her, mouth wide open to bite. Link, quick as light, pulled his up his bow and arrows and shot the lizard man right between the eyes; making the now dead lizard man plunge to the ground. Unfortunately, the lifeless shell of a body still managed to hit Talim, causing her to fall to the ground and land on top of her.

Maga and Maxi ran forward, along with Xianghua, to fend off any more lizard men from hurting Talim.

"Please help!" She cried as she struggled to push the dead body, now creating a pool of blood around her, off and away from her.

"We're coming!" Xianghua assured her, ducking away from an axe, swung at her with high velocity.

"Ha! How 'bout this!" She yelled as she quickly swung her sword around and gutted one of the horrible monsters.

Maxi was unleashing a flurry of blows onto an unsuspecting lizard man and launched him up into the air. Maxi took a few steps back, timing himself just right, ran forward and leapt up into the air; foot extended straight out.

"Rising Dragon of the Zodiac!" Maxi bellowed. His foot made contact with the Lizard Man's skull and a crack could be heard. There was so much momentum behind his kick that he snapped the creature's neck.

Several different Lizard-men had found their way around the group, surrounding them in a circle and attacked Dante.

Dante was already standing in a defensive position, holding his weapon close to him and blocked many blows that would have easily killed him. He swung left and he swung right, hitting shields and hacking limbs. While in the heat of battle, one Lizard stealthily snuck behind him and jumped, in attempt to destroy the largest threat. He jumped on Dante's back, biting down hard on his collar bone and scratching away at his back with the sharp claws on his feet. Dante yelled in pain and fell to his knees. He took his right hand and reached around his shoulder, looking for something. He ran his fingers around the Lizard Man's head and finally found what he was looking for. He curled his thumb up and jabbed it into the Lizards eye socket, making it hiss in pain. Dante's plan to harm it had indeed worked out, but his plan to get it off had not. The Lizard man did not let loose his tightening grip on Dante's shoulder. Then Dante heard something.

"Tilliya!" cried Mitsurugi as he swung his sword in a crescent chopping motion at the lizard Man on Dante's back. The lizard man screeched in pain and fell dead to the ground. Dante grunted in pain as he stood from the ground.

"Don't think this makes me hate you any less then I did before ass hole."

"Good."

Mina and Kilik got separated from the group when Lizard men somehow made their way around them.

"Ha! Hiya!" Mina cried as she gutted a lizard man. When she did this another Lizard man leapt at her from behind, only to have his plans of killing her thwarted by Kilik.

"kom-bo!" he exclaimed as he twirled his staff around, hitting several different lizard men at a time.

"Thanks." Mina said as she thrust the butt end of her zambatou into the stomach of a lizard man.

"Wait a minute….." She said aloud. Something had caught her attention, or rather nothing did.

"Where's everyone else?" she asked.

"what?" Kilik replied while finishing off the last Lizard man that had surrounded them.

"Where are they? They were just here…" She thought aloud.

"Maybe they got separated."

Suddenly a cry of pain could be heard from a distance.

"Oh no.. Let's go!" Mina yelled as she grabbed Kilik and ran towards the direction of the scream.

"Don't worry Talim! We got you!" Xianghua assured her friend. At several feet away, she could hear Talim still pleading for help. She quickly plunged her sword into the abdomen of one of those Atrocious creatures, making it fall down as a lifeless shell. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she looked around and slowly, but carefully, inched herself towards her companion in distress. Suddenly, a yell of pain could be heard from behind them. She looked back and saw Dante on his knees, trying to throw a Lizard-man off of his back. She also saw Mitsurugi running towards him and swing his sword in a crescent motion, cutting the Lizard away from Dante's well being. Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned back around and made her way towards Talim. She was amazed at how Maxi and Maga held off several of the horrendous lizard like creatures, keeping them far away from Talim. But then again, when a friend is in dire trouble, one's self will rise above the test and conquer any in their way. Maga and Maxi stood almost back to back, guarding Talim with their lives.

"Hurry up Xianghua!" Maxi urged, " Maga and I can't hold them off forever!"

"Yeah!" Maga agreed as he deflected yet another deadly attack and returned his blade in favor of himself. Xianghua raced for Talim and pushed, with all her might, the heavy Lizard Man off of Talim

"What the hell could these things want?" Maga wondered aloud.

"You're guess is as good as mine!" Maxi replied.

Xianghua yanked Talim to her feet and nearly dragged her away from the fight.

"I got her! Let's get out of here!" She bellowed. Yet another scream of pain could be heard, but it was more feminine that the last and Maga felt more urged to finish this skirmish.

He swung his sword and with the shift of movement, held it upside down in the palm of his hand and used all his body and strength to arch it in a crescent swing, gravely injuring several Lizard Men in the process. Suddenly, a grave hiss could be heard from atop one of the gypsy wagons.

"What the…"

It was a hiss not like that of the odd reptilian creatures, this sounded much more vile and raspy. The Lizard men all retreated from the battle, but not in fear, but as is they were called back by their leader.

Maga looked up at the wagon, investigating the shredded canvas that covered it. Suddenly, another horrifyingly hiss came from it and seemingly out of nowhere, a figure leapt high into the air; shaded out by the sun.

"What the hell is that…." Maga asked himself.

"Maga! Run!" yelled a voice coming from behind him. Maga turned around to respond to the voice when suddenly, a loud thud came from behind him. He turned around and gasped at what he saw.

It was a sickly gray looking bald man with two odd looking hands crouching on the ground. His horrifying clothing was what made Maga very uneasy. He wore black leather straps that covered his eye sockets, mouth, and ears. It wrapped all around his head and extended around his torso and his lower body. Just the sight of this man made Maga gag.

"Maga! Get away from him!" Yelled yet another voice.

Maga stood still, both petrified and intrigued by this man. He finally took a small step backwards, making a small cracking noise when his boot fell upon a twig in the ground. The gray man perked his head and made a horrible gurgling-hiss sound and sprung forward at Maga.

"Whoa!" He yelled. He quickly rolled off to the side as his opponent flew above him with his claw-like hands extended. As he did this, Maga was able to get a closer look at him, and more importantly, his weapons of choice. The claws on his hands weren't claws at all, they were in fact, the weapons.

Maga rose from the ground and brought up his sword.

"Ha!" Raine yelled as she cut down a Lizard man.

" Hyaaah!" Link bellowed as he stabbed a Lizard-man in the gut.

"These lizalfos are tough!" He exclaimed.

" Tell me about it… What do they want?"

"I don't know, but they must want it bad."

Suddenly a Lizard Man leapt backwards and fell to all fours. He tensed up and with a large hiss, sprang forward; jaws opened wide. Raine brought her sword up in protest, but failed to block the monster's attack. It latched on to her arm and began to savagely shake his head every which-way, tearing away her flesh. She let out a loud cry in pain and tried to knock the creature away from her. Link quickly spun around and jabbed his sword into the Lizards neck and pulled it out. He raised his sword and brought it down on the neck of the reptilian monster, separating its head from its body. He dropped his sword to the ground and, with all his might, pried the Lizard-man's alligator-like jaws off of Raine's severely injured arm. With a final huff, Link successfully unhinged the jaws, letting Raine free from its crushing grip. She fell down to the ground and clasped her arm. It was shaking violently from her shocked nerves and the pain shooting through it.

"Come on, we need to help the others." He said as he sheathed his sword and helped her up from the ground.

Raine clutched her arm and leaned against Link for support.

They slowly began their walk forward when Raine saw Mina and Kilik emerge from the thick bush of the woods.

"Look, there's Kilik and Mina!" Raine exclaimed. Mina stopped in her tracks when she heard her name and turned around and spotted Link helping Raine, both battered and bruised. She ran up to them and saw blood dripping from Raine's arm.

"Raine! Are you okay?" She asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"I'm still breathing aren't I? Where's everyone else?" she asked.

"Maga! Run!"

"That sounded like Kilik!" Mina said.

"Let's hurry!" Link urged.

They walked as quickly as they could and saw Dante, Mitsurugi, Xianghua, Talim, and Kilik all standing together in front of the gypsy caravan. They rushed and regrouped with their companions when suddenly, a loud, terrifying hiss could be heard from the wagon that was closest to them. Raine turned her head and saw Maga standing and looking at the roof of the wagon. Suddenly, a figure jumped from be hind the wagon, high into the air.

From behind, they could hear numerous hisses and growls. They turned and saw that the Lizard men had surrounded them, now in much more numerous numbers then before.

They all quickly charged the group, weapons raised, hisses and growls ringing out, and yet another battle waged forth. Raine held her sword and waited for the small army of Lizard-men to come close when Talim stood in front of her.

"Please, you must hide! You're to hurt to fight!" she said, " Come with me!"

Talim grabbed her and they both ran from the fight when suddenly, Raine heard a loud thud come from Maga's direction.

She quickly turned around and saw that the mysterious figure landed right in front of Maga. The sickly sight of the creature frightened her.

"Maga! Get away from him!" She yelled in desperation. The horrific looking thing leapt at Maga with what looked like claws extended outwards. Maga rolled to the side, successfully dodging it's attack.

She and Talim slid into a small patch of bushes and hid quietly.

Clang! Maga's blade came into contact with the blood thirsty gray man.

'_That was close' _He thought.

The gray man lunged forward yet again. Maga quickly moved out of the way, but his opponent had another idea in mind. When he missed, the gray man dug his claw like weapons into the ground and used them to stop in immediately. When he did this, he shifted and started walking with his stomach pointing straight up towards the sky. Using his masterful agility, he rushed up to Maga and kicked him in the back. Maga fell down to one knee and tried to get up. The gray man used this opportunity to lunge onto his back and nock him face down to the ground.

'_This is it…This is the end.' _Maga thought quietly to himself_._ But instead of a strike of pain, the man did something quite differently. He hovered above Maga, making odd noises through his nose while moving up and down Maga's body.

'_Is he… Is he sniffing me? That's disgusting!'_ Maga thought.

The man in gray made a hiss of disappointment and backed away from Maga. He made an extremely loud hiss and retreated away into the thick of the forest, closely followed by the remaining Lizard Men.

"That…." Maga said aloud as he rolled over and sat up, " Was by far, the most disgusting thing I have ever had to endure. Why did he just sniff me?"

It was late into the evening. A harvest moon was rising, bright in the sky. The group managed to fight off the Reptilian forces led by the gray creature, but it was too late for the inhabitants. Link, Kilik, and Talim volunteered to bury the remains of the innocents whilst Dante's and Raine's wounds were dressed.

"It's a very good thing that there were bandages in one of these nearby wagons." Maga said as he was tying the knot on Dante's body wrap. Dante just glared angrily at the wall in front of him.

"Why so down, brother?"

"You know exactly why."

"Is it because Mina isn't taking care of you?"

"No. It's because of the ass hole Samurai."

" Still a little mad about him tagging along?"

"No. well, yes that too." Dante replied, " What pisses me off about him is that he constantly gets on my nerves, and now, I owe him my life!"

"You do realize that he'll leave if you just get your battle over with, right?"

Dante turned his head and glared at Maga, who was delivering a half-hearted grin to his brother.

"He wants a battle to the death. I can see it in his eyes. I really, REALLY want to fight him, but what if he injures me to the point of death? Then what?"

" I don't know. Not let you die?" Maga shrugged.

"Wow, I didn't realize how much of a genius you truly are Maga." Dante said sarcastically.

"Why thank you."

"Sometimes, I wonder about you."

_**Alright! I, Jen, have written my own chapter all by myself! I think a woot is in order! WOOT!**_

_**I'm not sure Jess told you guys why there was such a delay, but hes been having some personal things to deal with, and so he hasn't had the time to write anything down. **_

_**Without further a due, Please R&R! I really want to know what you all think!**_


	15. announcement

_**Hey everybody! I'm really sorry that ive been away for a while, but ive been visiting my family for the past month. I'm also lucky to be alive. I was racing down the road on my uncle's 4-wheeler ,a little to fast I might add, and a turn comes up. Well, stupid me never asked about which breaks I use. I hit the front brakes and go flying face first into a cedar tree. I whacked my shoulder up against it and hit it with such force that it turned me around and the back of my neck met some of them vines that have the small prickles on them. I blacked out for what my guess would be 6 or 8 minutes and I wake up to see my uncle pulling the atv off of my legs. Apparently when I spun around, the 4 wheeler landed on my legs and stopped me from flying further into the brush. All I have to show of it is a few scratches all over my body (from those vines) and bruised collarbone, bruised ribs, banged up knee, and a lot of my skin on the back of my neck torn up. I was really hoping id have something more brutal to show from the wreck. I learned three things out of it. **_

_**1. back breaks on the left**_

_**2. 40 MPH is a little too fast to be going around corners.**_

_**3. Vines SUCK**_

_**Id also like to make an announcement. There will be "scenes" from my previous chapters that ill be either removing, or, replacing. Need being that there are someparts that I feel are either moving the personal stories of some individual characters a little too fast (I.E. Raine and Maga changing moment from chapter 7) and maybe some unescessary inserts ( like maybe a few of Dante's and Mitsurugi's encounters). So if you like those original versions, id suggest you copy them or something like that by August 1**__**st**__**. I'll start on July 10**__**th**__**, with chapter one. Ill revise that, which may take a while and then ill head on to chapter 2. And so on. So , with all that said, here is yet another announcement. My co-writer, Jen, has recently told me that she is going to drop out of helping me write this. She said that she wants to start writing her own stuff, and I totally understand and accept that. This will be the last chapter she co-writes with me. So she wants to try to go out with a bang, so to speak. I wish her the best of luck with what ever it is she wants to write about, and I hope you all do too.**_


	16. Chapter 14: The Forewarning

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
"_Where am I?"_

_It was pitch black, nothing could be seen, not even his own hand in front of his face._

"_Well, I guess I should walk around."_

_And he walked, and walked, and walked some more. It felt as if he was going no where when suddenly, he heard a small chuckle. He raised his sword and shield, ready for anything to come at him._

"_Who's there!" He demanded, relentlessly scanning the area in hopes of catching a glimpse of something. Then, he heard foot steps, slowly making their way towards him. As they drew closer, his heart began to race._

"_Who is there!" He once again demanded._

"_Who is there!" Mocked a voice._

"_Don't mock me!"_

"_Don't mock me!" the voice ,yet again, mocked._

"_Show yourself! Now!" He yelled._

"_Heh…. As you wish."_

_Then the black became a blinding white. He shielded his eyes and allowed them to adjust to the light. When he looked forward, he gasped in shock. He had expected someone else. Someone whom had plagued his memories. But he did not see this man, whom he had expected. No. When he looked forward, he had seen a mirror reflection of himself. Except this reflection was no mere reflection. It was a negative of himself. Instead of blue eyes, they were solid red. Instead of blonde hair, it was a shade of gray. Instead of his green tunic, it was black._

"_Hello Hero. Miss me?" his reflection asked._

"_I killed you." Link proclaimed._

"_Uh, not the first time it's happened." His reflection sarcastically replied." But anyways, I'm back, and with such a vengeance."_

"_How did you come back."_

"_Well, let me pull up a chair." His reflection stated. He snapped and suddenly, a small table and two chairs magicly appeared from nowhere, and he took a seat at one end of the another snap, two bottles of Lon Lon Milk appeared at both ends of the table._

"_Please, take a seat. I wouldn't want to seem rude." He stated as he uncorked the bottle and took a quick swig._

_Link was reluctant, but he sat down, still on guard._

"_Ahh, isn't it nice to have a little sit down with old friends Hero?"_

"_Don't change the subject." He stated._

"_Hey now, is that a way to treat family?"_

"_Your no family to me."_

"_Well, since we don't really have much time, then I guess we can just get down to business. No one is perfect. Every light has a shadow. Every positive has a negative. Every hero has a villain. Every YOU has a ME."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean that your not a pure as you seem to be. All your annoyances and all your negative thoughts have to go somewhere right? So after, say, a few months of looking for something that you can never seem to find, I manifest within you. At a certain full moon, I come out to play."_

_A Full moon. That is a night that Link didn't look forward too. It was a time that he was not himself. It was a night when his dark side takes over._

"_Remember what you did to that old man? Oh ho ho, wait, that was me. Remember what really happened between you and that red headed brat? Oh, shoot, that's right. You weren't conscious." His image began, " And you know what, I think I know what I'll do this time."_

_He couldn't take it anymore. Rage had built up inside of him and he had finally exploded._

"_You had better be quiet!"_

"_Ohh yes, please, more rage. It feeds me."_

"_I will not allow you to take over me again."_

"_Well, now, you see. You really and truly have no choice. It's funny, when you were in Hyrule; you were able to suppress me. But…" He said as he looked at his half empty bottle of Lon Lon Milk, " This world seems to have little to no magic in it and on top of that, it depresses you so."_

" _You wont come out."_

"_Oh I will, and when your friends discover what lies inside of you, they will kill you."_

"_They will not." Link argued._

"_Oh but they will. You could jeopardize the mission."_

"_MY mission."_

"_It WAS your mission, up until you had to help out that pathetic little village from those crazed bandits."_

"_Your starting to get on my nerves."_

"_Don't worry, it won't be long until its wakey wakey time for little hero."_

"_Why are you doing this now?"_

"_Well, I just loved my plan so much that I just HAD to tell you."_

"_What plan."_

"_Oh you know, I'll probably kill your friends in their sleep and, oh I don't know, find a way to export myself from your meaningless body!"_

"_You won't succeed."_

"_We'll see," His mirror image chuckled as he stood up from his chair._

"_Oh and Hero?" He turned his head a bit to catch Link out of the corner of his eye, " I'll see you later." _

_And with the snap of his fingers, everything went black._

**Sorry for such a short Ch.**

**Thats all i have to say.**


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